Xala Quizzes

Xala Quiz 1

Edited by K. Adolph · Last reviewed April 03, 2021

1 Growing up, a young Ousmane Sembène ___.

became educated in fillmmaking

was only educated in Wolof culture and language

abandoned the Muslim faith of his father

attended both French and Islamic school
2 After serving in WWII, Sembène returned to Senegal, where he ___.

participated in the Dakar-Niger Railroad Workers' Strike

became involved with civil bureaucracy

joined a French language association, which exposed him to a variety of films and novels

returned to live in the Casamance region
3 Pivotal moments came early on for Sembène during his time in France in all of the following ways EXCEPT ___.

finding employment as a dockworker in Marseilles, which inspired his novel "Le Docker noir"

becoming very interested in Italian language and culture

joining the French Communist Party

breaking his backbone, which inspired him to take on more intellectual pursuits
4 Sembène's interest in sociopolitical and historical themes was solidified early on by ___.

reading the works of Neruda, Wright, and other Marxists from around the world

meeting with a variety of historians at the local docks

research he conducted for one of his jobs as a librarian

reading Boccaccio's "Decameron"
5 Sembène's pivot towards depicting "African life" in his work came with ___.

O pays, mon beau peuple

Protection (Mooladé)

God's Bits of Wood (Les bouts de bois de dieu)

Xala
6 Sembène studied filmmaking in ___.

South Africa

Russia

America

France
7 Sembène liked Wolof film as a medium because ___.

it helped him exclude a wider European and global audience

it helped him reach a wider audience, since many Senegalese could not read or write in French

it gave him insight into the consumer trends of West Africa

it helped him to unpack his own identity more effectively than literature
8 Which of Sembène's films was credited with introducing Black, African stories to the cinema world?

Xala

Guelwaar

Mandabi

Le Noir de (Black Girl)
9 Sembène is often remembered for the way he centered the narrative and social power of ___.

African clergy

neocolonial bourgeois businessmen

Black, African women

a wealthy, white elite in Africa
10 The important social structures of the Wolof people were developed during the time of ___.

the domination of the kingdom of Ghana

French colonization

the domination of the kingdom of Mali

the Djolof (Jolof) Empire
11 Coastal Wolof peoples were able to initially gain power during colonization by ___.

attending schools abroad in France and Germany

participating in the French bureaucracy

trading slaves and weapons with the French

setting up their own maritime trade leagues
12 Over time, as Wolof language became the lingua franca of postcolonial Senegalese cities, the Wolof people ___.

nonetheless continued to be oppressed in the colonial and postcolonial milieu

saw a commensurate rise in power and influence in national affairs

began to establish a powerful separatist movement that effectively opposed the French

expanded their class-based castes to accommodate new occupations and the extant castes of other peoples
13 The official language of Senegal is currently ___.

French

Wolof

Serer

Fula
14 Xala's opening scene focuses on ___.

a meeting of Senegalese businessmen who are celebrating the appointment of one of their own to the position of President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry

the aspirations of Yay Bineta

the third wedding of El Hadji

the internal tensions of El Hadji's various family units
15 El Hadji's marriage to his third wife marks him as ___.

a lascivious and disreputable individual

a "captain," the traditional rank reserved for nobility

someone who notably respects women

one of the most eligible bachelors in Senegal
16 Before Independence, El Hadji worked as ___.

a banker

an importer-exporter

a teacher

a doctor
17 El Hadji's nickname comes from ___.

the fact that he completed the pilgrimage to Mecca

his devotion to the cause of Catholicism

the fact that he made a trip to Spain

his resemblance to another figure, named Hadji
18 Yay Bineta took the initiative in matching El Hadji with N'Gone because ___.

Mam Fatou asked her to do so

N'Gone's work and education prospects were otherwise very poor

she knew El Hadji well and wanted to give him the prettiest girl in town as a wife

Yay Bineta herself wishes to marry El Hadji, but she is fated to never marry again
19 Which of the following words does NOT describe Adja Awa Astou?

Devout

Bold

Resilient

Docile
20 Which of the following words does NOT describe Oumi N'Doye?

Spoiled

Provincial

Strong-willed

Sexual
21 El Hadji's first two wives are evocative of ___.

the two major sides of an important ideological conflict in Senegal

the two faces of postcolonial Senegal

the two sides of the Senegalese dollar coin

the two main traditional castes for women in Wolof culture
22 Oumi thinks that Adja supports El Hadji's marriage to N'Gone because ___.

of an ongoing rivalry between the two of them, which often leaves Adja feeling older and less beautiful

of her pure and simple devotion to El Hadji

N'Gone is, like her, a devout Muslim

she wants to spend even less time than she already does with El Hadji, and throwing a third wife into the mix accomplishes this
23 Adja's father cut ties with her when ___.

she left Gorée Island to start dating

she abandoned the Catholicism of her youth to marry El Hadji

she had her first child, Rama, out of wedlock

she dated a European many years ago
24 Rama shares some traditional values with her mother, such as ___.

the belief that women ought to be constrained to the domestic sphere

an appreciation for Wolof langugae

a categorical devotion to Islam

the hope to one day be married to a stable and conservative man
25 Sembène compares Adja's religious devotion to ___.

a woodworking hobby

a drug addiction

a demanding career

a competitive sport