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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. What does Zikora brag to her cousin Mmiliaku when talking of her relationship with Kwame?

2. What about the smaller nurse bothers Zikora to the point that she decides she will write a complaint after?

3. How old was Zikora when her father married a second wife?

4. What did Zikora's mother do after Zikora accepted food at Aunty Nwanneka's house when they went to visit her new baby?

5. How does the narrator's mother respond to her expression of pain during labor?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the nurses continually tell Zikora at the beginning of the story, which she feels they are blaming Zikora for?

2. Why does Zikora feel she is disgracing her mother in the labor room?

3. In what ways did Kwame seem different than most successful, Black men Zikora knew?

4. How is Zikora's cousin Mmiliaku's husband Emmanuel described?

5. What is the dynamic between mother and daughter at the beginning of "Zikora: A Short Story"?

6. Where is the narrator at the start of "Zikora: A Short Story," why, and what relative is with her?

7. Why does Kwame's reaction to Zikora's pregnancy surprise her?

8. What does Zikora feel toward the nurse after she raises her eyebrows when Zikora's mother refuses to help keep her still for the epidural?

9. How does Zikora interact with Dr. K when he first appears in the story and she tells him something must be wrong?

10. What happened when Zikora was nine and went to see Aunty Nwanneka's new son, Ugonna?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay on the theme of motherhood in "Zikora: A Short Story." Explain motherhood from various angles and perspectives in the story.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay explaining the significance of the title of the story. How does the title support the overall narrative tone and theme?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about changing tone in "ZIkora: A Short Story." What moments does the tone change? What is the tone during flashbacks with Kwame versus the hospital or home? How or why does the tone change in these moments?

(see the answer keys)

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