View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What aspect of the teacher's appearance does Amal make fun of in her note to Adam?

2. When Amal hosts a sleepover at her house in Chapter 16, which three guests does she invite?

3. Who announces the teams for the final two debating rounds at the start of Chapter 27?

4. In the last sentence of Chapter 17, Amal notes that "Sometimes one act of kindness is all it takes to give you" what "again" (161)?

5. In what location is the restaurant to which Jamila and Mohammed go in Chapter 18 to celebrate their anniversary?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss an occasion when Amal uses a metaphor to affect Mrs. Vaselli in a particular way.

2. For what reason is Leila excluded from a great deal of Amal's sleepover in Chapter 16?

3. What tragedy occurs on the world stage in Chapter 29 that increases the level of Islamophobia Amal experiences?

4. Discuss an instance when Hakan shows a disregard for his family's safety.

5. Describe the circumstances around the departure of Adam's biological mother at one point in his childhood.

6. When Amal's friendship with Adam comes to an end, what does she miss about their friendship?

7. How does Amal use a film allusion to describe her interaction with Mr. Pearse in Chapter 26?

8. How does the elderly woman on the bus with Amal in Chapter 17 react to the bus driver's actions toward Amal?

9. In what way does Simone demonstrate a sizable shift in her confidence level in Chapter 19?

10. How does the theme of hope surface within Chapter 17?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

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

Discuss Abdel-Fattah's choice to tell the story of Does My Head Look Big in This? using the first person point-of-view to present Amal’s story. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Abdel-Fattah’s intended effects on the reader?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,220 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample