The Rvier Between Study Guide 1

The River Between Study Guide #1
Use your book to write brief responses to the following questions. Include a page number reference next to each response. (30 points)

Chapter 1
1 Draw the two ridges and the river. Name them and, as you continue reading, add characters, beliefs, and places of historical and mystical significance to your sketch.
























2 What is the source of antagonism between the ridges? (pg. )



3 Who are Mugo wa Kibiro, Kamiri, and Wachiori? (pg. )



4. Why does Ngugi tell the reader about Mugo wa Kibiro, Kamiri, and Wachiori?

Chapter 2
1 Explain what was meant with the insult “white man’s slave”? Who is the white man’s slave? (pg. )



2 The famine mentioned in this chapter is the same as the one mentioned in “Facing Mount Kenya,” therefore this novel is set in what time period? What was happening in Kenya at this time?



3 List three specific similarities between the information in “Facing Mount Kenya” and this chapter.
A. (pg. )

B. (pg. )

C. (pg. )

4. What is Siriana? (pg. )

Chapter 3
1. What is Demi na Mathathi? (pg. )



2. Why do the boys tell Waiyaki he could not be Demi na Mathathi? (pg. )



3. What is unusual about Waiyaki’s eyes? (pg. )



4. What is unusual about Waiyaki's second birth ceremony? (pg. )




Chapter 4
1. Name three things about traditional life that Chege teaches Waiyaki, during their trip.
A. (pg. )

B. (pg. )

C. (pg. )

Chapter 5
1. Why did Chege take Waiyaki to the sacred grove? (pg. )


2. Waiyaki and Chege are decendents of which great Gikuyu? (pg. )


3. What responsibility/role was given to Waiyaki on the mountain? (pg. )


4. Why does Chege send Waiyaki to Siriana and what warning does he give him? (pg. )


5. What do the missionaries see in Waiyaki? How does this set up a conflict? (pg. )


Chapters 1-5
1. Ngugi wa Thiong’o uses foreshadowing throughout this novel. Give three specific examples of lines/events that lead you to make predictions about the rest of the novel.
A. (pg. )

B. (pg. )

C. (pg. )

What are your predictions?


2. Figurative language is used by authors to communicate beyond the ordinary or literal meaning of the words. For example: "[The ridges] were like many sleeping lions which never woke" (1). Give one example of figurative language from these chapters (metaphor, similes, personification, etc.).
(pg. ):

3. Write down one line that you find especially beautiful for the image it evokes.