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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 event at school does Belinda miss after she finds out the bad news about Mary?

2. Belinda describes Mary as "a friend who has a very big" what "inside of her" (146)?

3. What television show do Belinda, Aunty, and Uncle watch together at the end of Chapter 34?

4. When Belinda first meets Helena, she mentally refers to her in connection with which physical attribute?

5. What gift does Amma give to her mother Nana in Chapter 17, greatly surprising Nana?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Helena's personality.

2. How does Belinda feel after she tells Amma the truth about her mother's profession?

3. For what reason does Amma instruct Belinda to smear cake icing onto her face?

4. What major plot point occurs within the scene at Starbucks?

5. Why is Belinda's wrist hurting her "during the long week of complete silence between Belinda and Amma" (189)?

6. What does Amma believe about the need for love to be public?

7. How does Donkor incorporate sensory detail into Belinda's long walk between Streatham and Brixton Hills?

8. How does Donkor use foreshadowing within the scene when Amma is waiting for Roisin at Starbucks?

9. What misconceptions does Belinda have about homosexuality?

10. What kind of meltdown does Amma have in Waitrose?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Could Housegirl be classified as a coming-of-age story? Why or why not?

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 Donkor’s novel Housegirl. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Sensory details are used frequently by Donkor in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of Housegirl. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Donkor’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

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