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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. In “The Headstrong Historian,” what did Nwamgba’s cousins take after Obierika’s funeral?

2. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” what does Odofile tell Chinaza she has to do in order to get ahead in America?

3. In "Tomorrow is Too Far," who called out to Nonso that there was a snake in the tree below him?

4. In “The Shivering,” how long had Ukamaka and Udenna been in a relationship together?

5. In “The Thing Around Your Neck,” what do all Americans have, according to Akunna’s relatives in Nigeria?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the thing around the character’s neck in the story "The Thing Around Your Neck"?

2. In “The Headstrong Historian,” what were Nwamgba’s parents’ objections to Nwamgba’s choice of Obierika as husband, and how did she overcome them?

3. In “The Headstrong Historian,” how does Nwamgba end up sending Anikwenwa to learn English from the mission schools?

4. In “The Shivering,” how does Chinedu explain away Ukamaka’s objections about his logic regarding God’s will?

5. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” how does the narrator characterize the apartment she arrives in with her husband?

6. In “The Thing Around Your Neck,” what difficulties does Akunna, the you of the story, encounter in dating a white man?

7. In “The American Embassy,” what injury keeps the woman in line from moving with any agility?

8. Who are the main characters of the short story "Tomorrow is Too Far"?

9. How does the narrator characterize the rules in America, in "The Thing Around Your Neck"?

10. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” what was it that Chinaza liked about the markets in Enugu?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the difference between the authorial personality and the narrates in Adichie’s stories. How are they similar, how are they different? Where does the author reveal herself in her choices? How are the narrates, like the unnamed narrator of Cell One, different from the authorial persona? How do they represent a consistent personality?

Essay Topic 2

Which of Adichie’s stories are coming of age narratives, and what does coming of age entail, in these stories? What earlier state is left behind? What new state is assumed? What is lost and gained in the transition?

Essay Topic 3

In many stories, there are two different languages being spoken by different characters, and these languages mean different things to different people. Choose three stories and discuss the different vocabularies and sets of meanings that create gaps between people’s understanding. How do the various narrators characterize the differences between languages, whether they be male and female, English and Igbo, African and American?

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