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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 is Jende's favorite restaurant?

2. What does Cindy give Neni after her summer in the Hamptons?

3. What does Vince ask Jende to keep from his parents in Chapter 16?

4. What drug does Betty believe that Cindy is taking?

5. What does Jende dream about in Chapter 26?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Cindy Edwards characterized in Chapter Five?

2. How does Mbue show the novel's time period in the first few chapters of the novel?

3. What does Neni think about the Edwards home in the Hamptons?

4. What happens when Neni goes to work a party at the Edwards' for the day?

5. How does Mbue make it clear to the reader that Mr. Edwards is wealthy in Chapter One?

6. What insights does Jende gain from Leah about the state of Lehman Brothers?

7. How does Cindy react when Neni wakes her up in Chapter 18?

8. What is Bubakar's plan to get Jende a green card in Chapter Three?

9. What is the opening scene of the novel?

10. What causes Jende to become angry at Neni for in Chapter 20?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the marriages of the Jongas and the Edwards. How do these two unions drive the action in the text? How are these marriages similar and how are they different?

Essay Topic 2

How does gender inequality impact the lives of the women in the text?

Essay Topic 3

MBue is able to use New York City as a character in this text. What does New York City symbolize to the characters of the novel? How does this change over the course of the text and why?

(see the answer keys)

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