View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In “The Headstrong Historian,” what did Nwamgba’s cousins take after Obierika’s funeral?

2. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” who does Odofile look down on when he takes Chinaza shopping?

3. In "Tomorrow is Too Far," what sound did the narrator envy her mother making for Nonso?

4. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” what does Odofile tell Chinaza she has to do in order to get ahead in America?

5. In “The Thing Around Your Neck,” how does Akunna’s uncle describe America?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Who are the main characters of the short story "Tomorrow is Too Far"?

4. Who is the You in the story "The Thing Around Your Neck"?

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

6. How does the narrator characterize the rules in America, in "The Thing Around Your Neck"?

7. In “The American Embassy,” why does the woman leave the embassy without completing the interview process?

8. In “The American Embassy,” what is the woman’s relationship with the man behind her in line?

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

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

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

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,044 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample