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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 Thing Around Your Neck,” how does Akunna get a job after leaving her uncle’s house?

2. In “The Headstrong Historian,” what was the Christian name Father Shanahan gave Anikwenwa?

3. In “The American Embassy,” what does the man in line behind the woman speculate about the people in the American embassy?

4. In “The American Embassy,” how did the woman get her husband out of the house to safety?

5. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” why does Odofile tell Chinaza to stop cooking African food?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Tomorrow is Too Far," how does the narrator characterize the relationship between herself and Dozie?

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

3. In “The Shivering,” what is it about the events in Nigeria that have Ukamaka so upset?

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

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

6. In “The Headstrong Historian,” how did Afamefuna validate Nwamgba’s values in the end of her life?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Evaluate your own reading of The Thing Around Your Neck—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the different stories? Which stories appealed to you strongest? Which ones left you cold? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

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

What is the role of religion in the lives of the characters in Adichie’s stories? What are the main religions represented in the stories, and what are the main differences between them? What do the different religions do for the people who subscribe to them? How do people characterize believers from other religions? How do religious observances change when people come to America?

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