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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 “A Private Experience,” what aspect of the Hausa woman does the narrator say Chika will remember?

2. In “A Private Experience,” what has Chika lost as she hides from the riots?

3. In “Jumping Monkey Hill,” what do the couple in the Zimbabwean’s story need to get, before they can get pregnant?

4. In “Ghosts,” what does Professor Nwoye buy for the men under the flame tree?

5. In “On Monday of Last Week,” how long has Kamara been working for Neil?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In “Cell One,” how did time in prison change Nnamabia?

3. In “Cell One,” why was the narrator’s brother arrested?

4. What happens to turn Kamara around at the end of "On Monday of Last Week"?

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

6. In “Imitation,” what signs are there that the story supports Nkem’s position at the end of the story?

7. In “On Monday of Last Week,” what changed for Kamara after last Monday?

8. In “Cell One,” how did Nnamabia’s time in prison change the narrator’s parents?

9. In “Jumping Monkey Hill,” how does Edward get on Ujunwa’s wrong side?

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

Which of Adichie’s stories are coming of age narratives, and what does coming of age entail, in these stories? What earlier state is left behind? What new state is assumed? What is lost and gained in the transition?

Essay Topic 2

Is there an arc that gives the disparate stories a narrative arc? Does this book have a climax that builds on the climaxes (or anti-climaxes) of the individual stories? What questions does the primary climaxes resolve? What questions does each the primary climaxes leave unanswered?

Essay Topic 3

How does Adichie include history in her stories, and which histories are most influential in her characters’ lives? How do characters live with their past, their lineage, their childhood? How does the past change as characters grow up and see their lives in more detail?

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