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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 question does Clark ask Jende during the interview?

2. What is the reason why Jende wants to leave New York in Chapter 13?

3. Who is Cheri?

4. What does Clark ask Jende at the start of Chapter Six?

5. Where is Clark's office?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Vince reveal to Jende in Chapter 16?

2. How does Vince consider Jende similar and different from his parents?

3. What is the job that Neni takes in Chapter 17?

4. What is Neni's reaction when she meets Jenny?

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

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

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

8. What happened to Neni's father's job while she was growing up?

9. What does Jende learn about Clark when they talk in Hudson River Park?

10. What are the first signs of trouble with Clark's job in Chapter Six?

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

Select a secondary character and analyze their importance to the novel. How do they move the plot forward? How are they used to develop the other characters in the text?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the character of Clark Edwards. There are many places in the novel where he seems to shirk responsibility for his actions such as Jende's firing and the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Is he a hero or villain in this text, or somewhere in between?

(see the answer keys)

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