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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. Why does the Christian doctor say that the hearts of black people are easy to come by?

2. According to the novel, what time do day's activities end?

3. According to the novel, what is not a child's game?

4. Who paved the road from the Ghana border to Ouagadougou?

5. What does Sissie think about her relationship with Marija?

Short Essay Questions

1. What meat does Marija plan to cook for Sissie on the day she is scheduled to depart?

2. What country other than Ghana does Sissie tell Marija she has visited?

3. To what city does Sissie travel to meet her West African friend?

4. What does Part 2: "The Plums" claim is not a child's game?

5. How does Sissie describe East Berlin?

6. What is the name of the relative of Sissie's West African friend whom she meets?

7. Where does Sissie stay in London?

8. How much weight does Sissie gain when in Europe?

9. Who tells Sissie that going out late is against the rules?

10. What beverage does Marija offer Sissie in Part 2: "The Plums?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you evaluate how various landscapes are portrayed in the novel. What sorts of landscapes are described? Where are they located, and how do they make Sissie feel? What are the differences between Sissie's home country and the landscapes she encounters in Europe? Use evidence from the text to support your evaluation of the differences.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you evaluate the poetic interludes in the novel. What purpose do the poems serve? What is the effect on the reader when the poems break up the text? In your essay, you may conduct a close reading on any number of these poems as examples, and consider whether there are any common themes among these several poems, as well as what effect(s) they have on the reader.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you analyze how the author presents food in the novel. What does Sissie think of the food she encounters in her travels? How is food representative of a culture? Consider the various ways in which the author uses food as a recurring theme, and try to adduce evidence from several of the novel's sections.

(see the answer keys)

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