Season of Migration to the North

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. Why are the villagers surprised by the narrator’s report of Europe?

2. What is Bint Majzoub “afraid” the narrator would return home with?

3. What items are in the bundle of papers that Mustafa gives the narrator?

4. What opportunity did the man on horseback offer young Mustafa?

5. How does Mustafa personify Cairo?

6. Which position was Mustafa appointed to at age 24?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Who is Mustafa? Describe the narrator’s interest in Mustafa and the villagers’ summary of this character.

2. Summarize the event with Mustafa that “stunned” the narrator. What is the outcome of the situation?

3. Based on Mustafa’s recollection of his youth, how did he find his education? Summarize which cities he attended school in.

4. What crime did Mustafa commit? How does Professor Foster-Keen save Mustafa from being hanged?

5. Who is Isabella Seymour? Describe Mustafa’s recollection of his first meeting with her.

Paired Resource

Information about Sudan

• This encyclopedia entry provides a detailed overview of this northeastern African country.
• This resource’s factual information supports ideas connected to the theme of The Legacy of Colonialism.
• In which ways has The Legacy of Colonialism shaped contemporary Sudan?

“Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Sudan”

• UNICEF’s 2022 Arabic and English factsheets relay FGM statistical trends in Sudan.
• This information connects with the theme of Misogyny and Violence Against Women.
• Based on the text and the above resource, how is male/female circumcision viewed in Sudan?

Chapters 3-4

Reading Check

1. Which feeling accompanies the narrator’s thought process when he remembers Mustafa?

2. Upon Mustafa’s death, which responsibility is bestowed upon the narrator?

3. According to Abdul Mannan, what were the people of the village “spared during the days of the English”?

4. What does Mustafa use as a metaphor to compare “wanderlust” to?

5. Where is the river’s “irrevocable journey”?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Summarize what the narrator learns about Mustafa from the civil servant on the train. How do Mustafa and the narrator share similar trajectories?

2. Why was Mustafa called “the black Englishman”? What was the significance of this nickname?

3. Compare and contrast the young man and the Englishman’s opinions on Mustafa and his role in supporting postcolonialism. How does the narrator describe their conversation?

4. What does Mustafa ask of the narrator in his final letter? Why was the narrator chosen for these responsibilities?

Paired Resource

“Sudan in Crisis”

• Ohio State University’s 2019 article discusses the legacy of British colonialism in Sudan.
• The ideas in the article connect with the theme of The Legacy of Colonialism.
• How has The Legacy of Colonialism affected a post-independent Sudan?

Chapters 5-6

Reading Check

1. According to the narrator’s grandfather, which element of a couch indicates vanity?

2. How did Professor Foster-Keen feel about Mustafa?

3. Why did Mustafa feel a sense of superiority in the courtroom?

4. Why does the narrator admire Mahjoub?

5. What does the narrator realize at the end of his conversation with Mahjoub?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Identify the figurative language that the narrator uses to describe his grandfather. Which fact about his grandfather amazes the narrator?

2. Who is Bint Majzoub? How does she defy the traditional gender norms?

3. Summarize the conversation about marriage among the narrator’s grandfather, Bint Majzoub, Wad Rayyes, and Bakri. How do these characters perceive the social norms of marriage and divorce?

4. What does Wad Rayyes want the narrator to ask Hosna? How does Hosna respond?

Chapters 7-8

Reading Check

1. What was the subject of the conference that the narrator attended in Khartoum?

2. What did Hosna request the narrator’s father do?

3. How did Mabrouka respond to Bint Majzoub’s news?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does the narrator reveal to Mahjoub at the circumcision celebration?

2. What information does the narrator learn from the stranded government officials? Describe which action he takes upon hearing this news.

3. Who finally tells the narrator the information he seeks? Summarize the gruesome incident he learns about.

4. What words of Mahjoub anger the narrator? How does the narrator respond?

Paired Resource

“Robert Irwin Lecture on Tayeb Salih’s ‘Season of Migration to the North’”

• The 2017 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize Lecture by Robert Irwin on Salih’s novel runs approximately 43 minutes, with more time on questions after the lecture. (Content Warning: The lecture discusses the novel’s sensitive issues and uses dated language for death by suicide.)
• Connects with the themes The Legacy of Colonialism and The Impact of Storytelling
• Based on the text and the above resource, how does The Impact of Storytelling save the narrator at the end of the novel?

Chapters 9-10

Reading Check

1. Where does the narrator say he begins?

2. Which type of book does the narrator note is missing from Mustafa’s library?

3. What is the narrator’s goal as he swims in the river?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Identify the photographs the narrator sees in Mustafa’s room. What does his narration focus on as he observes the photos?

2. Who is “Moozie”? What does Mrs. Robinson write about “Moozie”?

3. Describe Mustafa’s relationship with Jean. What is their final moment like together?

Recommended Next Reads 

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

• Conrad’s 1899 novel follows the narrator Marlow on his journey into the Belgian Congo, where he is impacted by a devious trader named Kurtz.
• This novel connects to the themes of The Legacy of Colonialism, The Impact of Storytelling, and Passivity and Action.
• Salih’s novel has been described as a “reverse Heart of Darkness,” where Salih explores many of the elements of Conrad’s novel through the perspective of the colonized.
• Heart of Darkness on SuperSummary

Ambiguous Adventure by Cheikh Hamidou Kane

• Kane’s 1961 novel explores the journey of Samba Diallo from postcolonial Senegal to France for his studies and finally back to Senegal.
• This novel connects to the themes of The Legacy of Colonialism, The Value of Education, Misogyny and Violence Against Women, and The Impact of Storytelling.
• Kane’s novel focuses on many of the same elements of Salih’s novel, including the education of a young man from a colonized nation, the place of religion and tradition in a modernizing mid-20th century world, and the transformation of those who return to their childhood villages.
• Ambiguous Adventure on SuperSummary