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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why do others disapprove of Aissatou's marriage?
(a) Aissatou is not good enough for the man she marries.
(b) The man she marries is poor.
(c) The man she marries is ugly.
(d) The man she marries is Chinese.

2. Of what significance is the narrator's unconventional marriage?
(a) It is the first one to have ever taken place in Senegal.
(b) It compels new laws granting women complete freedom.
(c) It is the reason she loses her teaching job.
(d) It is symbolic of the New Africa.

3. How does the narrator feel about Modou taking a second wife?
(a) Glad to have someone to share household chores.
(b) Betrayed.
(c) She does not know he did so.
(d) Indifferent since she is the first and most important wife.

4. What is the narrator's state of mind at the opening of the book?
(a) Happy.
(b) Angry.
(c) Distraught.
(d) Depressed.

5. What is Daouda Dieng's occupation?
(a) Physician.
(b) Professor.
(c) Herdsman.
(d) Lawyer.

6. Who leads the country when the republic is born?
(a) A dictator who is elected through corruption.
(b) The dominant political party.
(c) A group of 15 men.
(d) The former king, who agrees to share power.

7. In Modou's letters to the narrator while getting his degree, for what did he say he longed?
(a) His family and friends.
(b) Enough money to come home and visit.
(c) For the narrator's presence and black complexion.
(d) A home-cooked meal.

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

9. What did the deceased give Lady Mother-in-Law when he desires to marry Binetou?
(a) A trip to Europe.
(b) Three cows and a bull.
(c) A signed paper in which he committed to paying Binetou a monthly salary.
(d) A new home.

10. What is another secret revealed about the deceased?
(a) He had four illegitimate children.
(b) He made a pact with an Inman to send his son to England.
(c) He never legally married his second wife.
(d) He had abandoned his first wife (the narrator) and her children to live with Binetou.

11. How many years has the second wife been married to the deceased?
(a) 10
(b) 5
(c) 2
(d) 18

12. What profession does Aunty Nabou insist her niece take up?
(a) Midwifery.
(b) Veternarian.
(c) Weaving.
(d) Nursing.

13. What is the mirasse?
(a) A payment of 10 dollars from the government for the widow.
(b) A pilgrimage to Mecca.
(c) A family meeting required by the Koran where the deceased's secrets are exposed.
(d) A vision the widow finds on a quest in the desert.

14. What does Daba produce when Lady Mother-in-Law wants the monthly salary continued?
(a) A court order doubling the amount.
(b) A box of jewelry for Mother-in-Law.
(c) Four witnesses that say Mother-in-Law abused the deceased.
(d) An affidavit with a list of what Binetou's villa contained.

15. What does the narrator think of Aissatou's in-laws?
(a) That they should not have moved to the United States.
(b) That they take advantage of Aissatou.
(c) That they are wonderfully warm people.
(d) That they do not respect Aissatou.

Short Answer Questions

1. For whom does Modou work?

2. What do the narrator and her friends do at their house parties?

3. What is the difference between the men and women during the gathering for the deceased?

4. What is Aunty Nabou's goal in raising her niece?

5. How many children does the woman bear the deceased?

(see the answer keys)

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