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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 “Imitation,” how does the narrator characterize Nkem’s dating life before Obiora?

2. In “On Monday of Last Week,” how does Kamara characterize parenting in America?

3. In “Imitation,” what are the features of the Benin mask Nkem is looking at while her friend tells her about her husband’s infidelity?

4. In “Ghosts,” when did Professor Nwoye and his wife return to their home, after fleeing?

5. In “On Monday of Last Week,” what is Kamara’s reaction when she loses faith in Tracy?

Short Essay Questions

1. In “Imitation,” what does Obiora feel about the children preserving Nigerian customs in America?

2. In “Jumping Monkey Hill,” what debate does Edward start with his statements about the Senegalese writer’s story?

3. In “On Monday of Last Week,” how does the narrator characterize Neil’s parenting?

4. In “Ghosts,” what is the custom Professor Nwoye feels he should follow, when he sees his old colleague Ikenna Okoro, and what does he do?

5. In “A Private Experience,” what are the two women doing in the market town where they meet?

6. In “A Private Experience,” what does the narrator tell the reader about the fate of Nnedi?

7. In “Cell One,” what happened when the narrator’s parents confronted the second thief?

8. What is the Ugandan’s role in "Jumping Monkey Hill"?

9. In “Ghosts,” what is the business Professor Nwoye has come to the university to see about?

10. In “Imitation,” how does the narrator characterize Obiora’s courtship of Nkem?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the hardest things about crossing between cultures, and living in more than one culture at a time? Which stories would be the most useful tools for helping someone live in this situation? What are the lessons these stories tell? What are the steps to adjusting to a multi-ethnic life, according to Adichie’s stories?

Essay Topic 2

How does Adichie represent America in the stories of The Thing Around Your Neck? What does it stand for, in the lives of the Nigerians in her stories? What lessons do the Nigerians need to learn, to thrive there? How well do these lessons prepare people for the reality of America?

Essay Topic 3

When is The Thing Around Your Neck most itself? What is its characteristic passage, or moment? What makes that moment or passage the most representative of the book as a whole? Are there any places where the book seems to depart from its typical self, as if to become a different book?

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