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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. As the story begins, the Nigerian government places a ban on the transportation of _________________ from one end of the country to another.
(a) explosives.
(b) milk.
(c) bodies.
(d) fruit.

2. How many days does the narrator watch Selam's apartment building?
(a) 3.
(b) 7.
(c) 2.
(d) 5.

3. Why does the person in #115 yell at Jubril?
(a) He stepped on his foot.
(b) He dropped his bag on her lap.
(c) He spilled water on them.
(d) He had the audacity to speak to him.

4. What had a girl named Hadiya told Selam at school one day?
(a) Hamburger is pork.
(b) She should join the choir.
(c) She could tutor her.
(d) A certain boy liked her.

5. What is Jubril's adopted Christian name?
(a) Paul.
(b) Elijah.
(c) Gabriel.
(d) Adam.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the setting of the story?

2. Who is Yusuf?

3. What is an emir?

4. In what country does the story take place?

5. Which of the following is NOT something the soldier threatens to do if he is forced off the bus?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Akpan's choice of second person narration affect the reader?

2. What is the message of the story at the end?

3. Who is Jubril and why must he disguise his religious identity aboard a bus headed out of the city?i

4. How do the policemen who take the sick man off the bus represent the corruption that exists in the country?

5. What ban by the Nigerian government takes place just prior to the opening of the story, "Luxurious Hearses"?

6. Why are the narrator and Selam no longer allowed to play together?

7. What is the unifying thread of the conflicts in the story?

8. What is the core source of all the violence that takes place in the story?

9. Who are the narrator and Selam and what is their relationship?

10. What does the narrator experience on the day her parents inform her she can no longer play with Selam?

(see the answer keys)

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