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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Aissatou respond to Mawdo's taking a second wife under pressure from his mother?
(a) She is excited for help in the household.
(b) She agrees to the arrangement, but the second wife is not allowed in Aissatou's home.
(c) She takes her four sons and moves to the United States.
(d) She kills herself.

2. Who is Daouda Dieng?
(a) The narrator's maternal uncle.
(b) The boy her mother prefers over Modou.
(c) The head of the police in Senegal.
(d) The narrator's brother.

3. Who did Modou support politically?
(a) He wanted to stay part of the British empire.
(b) His own small group.
(c) The dominant party.
(d) The political party who opposed the dominant one.

4. What do the female relatives do for the deceased?
(a) Wail while walking around the outside of the home.
(b) Light the funeral pyre.
(c) Cover their heads with yellow cloth for two weeks.
(d) Wash the dead person's body.

5. How many children does the woman bear the deceased?
(a) 2
(b) 12
(c) 15
(d) 0

6. What does Mawdo, Aissatou's husband, admire about his father-in-law?
(a) His ability to work though he is handicapped.
(b) His willingness to cry at his daughter's wedding.
(c) His prize cow.
(d) His dexterity and artistry.

7. Why is the narrator upset about the sister-in-laws song?
(a) Because they sing out of key.
(b) Because they do not sing the complete song.
(c) Because they do not remember the narrator's name.
(d) Because they praise both wifes equally.

8. What does Modou think of the policies of the dominant party?
(a) He thinks they are weak.
(b) He believes they are depleting the country's resources and wasting the money.
(c) He thinks they are instituting wonderful changes.
(d) He believes they are too traditional.

9. How did the narrator's mother feel about the narrator's relationship with Modou?
(a) She didn't know about it.
(b) She thought it was wonderful.
(c) She disapproved of it at first.
(d) She was not alive at the time.

10. Of what is Aunty Nabou proud?
(a) Her son's profession.
(b) Her large herd of cows.
(c) Her wedgewood china.
(d) Her noble origins.

11. What is the difference between the narrator's friends and fellow teachers versus her in-laws?
(a) Her friends are modern-minded; whereas the in-laws stick to tradition.
(b) Her in-laws belong to a different political party from her friends.
(c) Her in-laws are from Kenya, not Senegal.
(d) She is able to relax with them, which she can't do with her in-laws.

12. How long does the narrator have to stay indoors after the funeral?
(a) Four months and ten days.
(b) As long as it takes for her hair to grow long again.
(c) Three days.
(d) She does not have to stay indoors.

13. How many sons does Aunty Nabou have?
(a) Just one, Mawdo.
(b) Six.
(c) Five.
(d) None.

14. What gives the narrator the ability to buck her family and marry who she wishes?
(a) What she learns in school.
(b) Because her future husband is blackmailing her.
(c) Her great-Aunt who did the same.
(d) She is pregnant.

15. How might one describe the culture of the Senegal people?
(a) Complex and difficult to understand.
(b) Rigid.
(c) They don't really have a distinct culture separate from other African countries.
(d) Adaptable.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what does the narrator compare teachers?

2. To where does Aunty Nabou travel?

3. What profession does Aunty Nabou insist her niece take up?

4. Why do others disapprove of Aissatou's marriage?

5. Of what does the younger generation speak?

(see the answer keys)

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