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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Matigari make with a strip of bark from the mugomo tree?

2. What are the children fighting over when Matigari chases them away with a stick?

3. What is the country's leader referred to over the radio in Part I?

4. What is Matigari surprised at when he is at the bar at the Mataha hotel?

5. Who does Matigari want to find before he goes home at the start of Matigari?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the conversation between Matigari and Gũthera after she offers him "a little pleasure" (24).

2. What happens to Matigari when he does not heed the boy's warning not to enter the scrapyard?

3. Describe the scrapyard that the man follows the boys to after watching them dig through garbage.

4. How do the men on horseback know Settler Williams and John Boy? What do they think happened to the men?

5. What does Matigari witness children do after running after a tractor?

6. Describe the cell Matigari is put in after being arrested at John Boy Junior's house.

7. What story of her past does Gũthera share with Matigari after he saves her?

8. Who is Gũthera and why does she run into the bar at the Mataha hotel where Matigari and Mũriũki first stop?

9. What does the murderer warn the prisoners, resulting in a fight between him and another prisoner?

10. How does Gũthera decide she can repay Matigari for saving her, despite thinking he may be insane?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing Ngũgĩ's commentary on women and their role in Matigari. How is this important to the story? How does it affect the narrative? Use textual evidence to explain your analysis.

Essay Topic 2

Pick a character from the novel and discuss their goals and motives. Do they achieve their motive? Do they share similar goals and motives with other characters? Do their goals clash with other characters? How do the characters' goals and motives affect their interaction with each other?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay examining the belt of peace as a symbol in Matigari. In what scenes does the belt appear? What is the context? How does the belt of peace develop the narrative?

(see the answer keys)

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