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

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

3. In “The American Embassy,” what does the embassy interviewer say she can offer the woman seeking asylum?

4. In “The Headstrong Historian,” what made Nwamgba look forward to death?

5. In “The Headstrong Historian,” how long ago did Nwamgba lose her husband Obierika when the story starts?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. In "Tomorrow is Too Far," what caused Nonso to receive preferential treatment among the three children in the story?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the hardest things about crossing between cultures, and living in more than one culture at a time? Which stories would be the most useful tools for helping someone live in this situation? What are the lessons these stories tell? What are the steps to adjusting to a multi-ethnic life, according to Adichie’s stories?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

How does Adichie represent America in the stories of The Thing Around Your Neck? What does it stand for, in the lives of the Nigerians in her stories? What lessons do the Nigerians need to learn, to thrive there? How well do these lessons prepare people for the reality of America?

(see the answer keys)

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