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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. How many years has the narrator been married to the deceased?

2. What was the narrator's first impression of her future husband?

3. What does Daba produce when Lady Mother-in-Law wants the monthly salary continued?

4. To whom is the narrator writing her diary?

5. Who suffers a heart attack?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator react to Modou's death?

2. With what does Aissatou surprise the narrator and what is Modou's response? Does it surprise you, the reader, that another woman would give a car to a her best friend when the husband is not providing for her?

3. What is happening to the narrator's daughter, Aissitou, who is named for the narrator's best friend in the United States.

4. What is the response to the taking down of the hair by each wife?

5. What is a possible reason the narrator's first name is revealed in chapter 19?

6. Why is Mawdo's life as a physician successful and what are the implications of this?

7. How does the narrator react to the news and what does she think?

8. What are the narrator's concerns for some of her children?

9. What does people think about Mawdo's marriage to Aissatou?

10. How does Daba feel about her father marrying her best friend? Do you think Daba's friend, Binetou, had a choice in marrying Modou? What does the narrator think about Binetou agreement to marry the narrator's husband?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How long has the idea of fate been part of the human culture? Discuss the difference between fate and the idea that a person creates his/her own reality. Which concept seems to make more sense? Which concept would you prefer to live you life by? Why? If you really believed that everything is fated, how would that change the way you lived your life?

Essay Topic 2

Ramatoulaye, the narrator is dealing with the grief of the death of her husband, whom she still loves, though he abandoned her. Grief is an integral aspect of every culture, though different cultures have different ways of dealing with grief. Choose three cultures from three different continents around the world and research the concept of grief in each one. Explain how each culture has traditions in place to deal with grief. Compare and contrast the three cultures and their attitudes about grief and the ways their people deal with grief.

Essay Topic 3

How would Ramatoulaye's life have been different if her husband had not married a second wife and how would it be different if he had divided his time and resources equally between the two women as is dictated in the Koran?

If polygamy were legal in your country for either men or woman, would you consider more than one husband or wife? Explain why or why not.

(see the answer keys)

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