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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 American Embassy,” what do the people in line say about the woman’s husband?

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

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

4. In “The Thing Around Your Neck,” where does Akunna live when she arrives in America?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. In “The Headstrong Historian,” how does Nwamgba end up sending Anikwenwa to learn English from the mission schools?

2. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” what was it that Chinaza liked about the markets in Enugu?

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

4. In “The Arrangers of Marriage,” what did the arrangers of marriage not tell the narrator about her husband’s professional status?

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

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

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

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

9. In “The Shivering,” what is it that brings Chinedu to Ukamaka’s apartment?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the difference between the authorial personality and the narrates in Adichie’s stories. How are they similar, how are they different? Where does the author reveal herself in her choices? How are the narrates, like the unnamed narrator of Cell One, different from the authorial persona? How do they represent a consistent personality?

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate the final story of The Thing Around Your Neck. Does it ring true to the other stories? Does it address the problems and tensions that preceded it? What are you left wishing for closure on, if anything?

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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