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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. What does young Camara offer to the animal he sees in his father's forge?

2. What did Camara and his apprentice friend talk about?

3. Who is the praise-singer talking about in chapter 2?

4. What kind of a man is Lansana?

5. What is the name of the river that flows nearby Camara's village?

Short Essay Questions

1. When does young Camara find his friends in Tindican, and what do they do?

2. Why does Camara's father always do the gold work himself, never leaving it to the apprentices or other workers?

3. What does Camara's grandmother's hut look like?

4. While he was growing up, what were the rules during meals in Camara's parents' household?

5. What do you know about Tindican? Where is it located, and how does Camara get there? What is special about the trip?

6. What is Camara thinking while he is in the rice fields with all the reapers?

7. Describe the character of Camara's father.

8. What does the praise-singer who acts as a middle man between the woman with the gold and Camara's father do in the workshop?

9. Camara remembers seeing a snake for the first time and being fascinated with its glittering eyes. What does he do to the snake, and what happens next?

10. When Camara arrives in Tindican as a child, how does his grandmother react?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In chapter 9, Camara leaves home for Conakry. This is an important change in his life in relation to his environment, lifestyle and companions. Compare/contrast all these changes to his life before he turned fifteen.

Essay Topic 2

Describe Camara's transition from childhood to manhood. How does this manifest in the book? How does this transition affect his position in his family? Give supporting evidence from the chapter. How does this transition further the plot? What is the author trying to point out with this episode? How has the character of Camara changed? How does his transition affect his mother?

Essay Topic 3

Towards the last chapters of the book, the ocean plays an important role in Camara's life. What does the ocean symbolize? What happens at the ocean? How is love related to this theme? Why is the ocean special and different from what he knows? What does his love of the ocean foreshadow? How is the ocean important in the last chapter? Relate Camara's actions in chapter 12 to his aspirations in chapter 10.

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