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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. When Amal first arrived at McCleans, one teacher had expressed surprise that Amal had what type of hair?

2. Who demands in Chapter 10 that Leila fix him a plate of food?

3. In what activity is Amal participating when she describes her epiphany at the beginning of Chapter 1?

4. What is the name of the vice captain of the McCleans student body who is in Year Eleven?

5. On what continent does the novel take place?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Hakan and what conflict develops out of his appearance in Chapter 8?

2. Who is the first person to encourage Amal to sign up for the debating competition after it is announced?

3. How does Amal react when Tia comes into the women's restroom at the start of Chapter 11?

4. How does Amal characterize her first day of wearing the hijab to McCleans when she calls Leila at the end of the day?

5. Describe Amal's relationship with her mother.

6. What distinction does Amal make between the two groups of women she and her Muslim friends call "part-timers" and those they refer to as "full-timers" (2)?

7. What is the main source of Simone's negative body image?

8. What major step does Amal take in Chapter 14 and who gloats about their role in Amal's decision?

9. What major decision does Amal, the protagonist of the novel, make at the beginning of the narrative?

10. What do postcards symbolize within Chapter 12?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze Abdel-Fattah's novel from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and what textual elements are used in order to send this message?

Essay Topic 2

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Abdel-Fattah’s novel Does My Head Look Big in This?. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the interplay between the resolution of Does My Head Look Big in This? and one of the novel's main messages. How does Abdel-Fattah make connections between these elements and how does their juxtaposition help them get across one main message of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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