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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 is the name of Zikora's child's father?

2. In what ways does Zikora feel Kwame is unlike other successful Black men she knew?

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

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. What is the name of the hospital where Zikora is giving birth?

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 Kwame's reaction to Zikora's pregnancy surprise her?

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

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

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

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

7. Where is the narrator at the start of "Zikora: A Short Story," why, and what relative is with 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. Who does Zikora think of when she becomes so tired she feels like she could die right there, and what happened to this person?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the similarities and differences between Zikora and her mother. What scenes best show these similarities or differences?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay on Zikora's mother's belief in self dignity in "Zikora: A Short Story." What is her definition of dignity and how does this impact Zikora?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay describing the imagery used in “Zikora: A Short Story.” Indicate examples of imagery in the text and identify possible meanings.

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