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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. Which is true about the promises made by Sissie and Marija?

2. How does Marija soften her plums?

3. What does the novel say about African names?

4. Who is called Little Adolph?

5. With whom does the airplane hostess assume that Sissie is travelling?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the woman in the train station in Frankfurt refer to her Sissie when speaking to her daughter?

2. Why do the Bavarian women with whom Sissie works wear black?

3. What part of Africa does Sissie liken to the "bowels of the earth" (11)?

4. What does the narrator claim that power decides?

5. What race Marija first assume Sissie to be?

6. In what language does Sissie explain that the angels take roll-call?

7. Where does Marija live?

8. What fruit had Sissie never seen before coming to Germany?

9. Where does Big Adolph work?

10. How does Sissie describe the color of the individuals in Germany?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you address the significance of language in the novel. What language does Sissie speak? What is(/are) the official language(s) of Ghana? What does Sissie think about the English language? Is language related to power, as demonstrated in the novel? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the heart transplant described by Kunle in Part 3: From Our Sister Killjoy. What are the details of this operation as it is presented in the text, and what are the various characters' reactions? In particular, how does Kunle's perspective differ from Sissie's? You may also discuss your own perspective on the operation, but, as always, please use evidence from the text to support your response.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the foreign language terms, including any racial slurs, used within the novel. In your essay, consider why the author might use foreign languages within the text, and whether foreign languages are used to a similar effect or different effects in various sections. In your essay, cite specific examples of terms used in making your argument.

(see the answer keys)

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