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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 “The Arrangers of Marriage,” how does Chinaza characterize the furnishings of the apartment her new husband takes her to?

2. In “The Headstrong Historian,” what did Anikwenwa learn to do in Lagos?

3. In “The Headstrong Historian,” what does Nwamgba’s son Anikwenwa’s name mean?

4. In "Tomorrow is Too Far," what time of year was it, when Nonso died?

5. In "Tomorrow is Too Far," what did the narrator wait for her mother to recognize?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the thing around the character’s neck in the story "The Thing Around Your Neck"?

2. In “The Thing Around Your Neck,” what difficulties does Akunna, the you of the story, encounter in dating a white man?

3. When and where is "The Headstrong Historian" set?

4. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” how does the narrator characterize the apartment she arrives in with her husband?

5. In “The American Embassy,” what injury keeps the woman in line from moving with any agility?

6. In “The American Embassy,” why has the woman come to wait in line at the American Embassy?

7. In “The Shivering,” what causes Ukamaka’s shivering?

8. In “The Shivering,” how does Chinedu explain away Ukamaka’s objections about his logic regarding God’s will?

9. In "Tomorrow is Too Far," what had the narrator told her mother to explain how Nonso had died?

10. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” how does the woman’s name change when she arrives in America?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do the titles relate to the stories? Choose three stories and explain the various resonances between title and narrative. Is there a trend you can identify, in how Adichie uses the titles to add to the meaning of the stories?

Essay Topic 2

Who is the audience for The Thing Around Your Neck? What is the ideal reader for The Thing Around Your Neck likely to think about the book’s main topics? How does this book try to affect the reader? What is it trying to teach him or her, or get him or her to do?

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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