English

9 Unit Four: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Unit Test


PART ONE: Questions about the Novel
Directions: Use your knowledge of Purple Hibiscus to answer the questions below.

1. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie uses the Achike family as a microcosm for Nigerian society in order
to develop which of the following themes?
a. When those in power use their status to oppress others, the consequences are devastating.
b. Family dynamics are complicated and they have long-lasting impacts on children.
c. Freedom and independence are essential for a healthy society and must be defended at all
costs.
d. Love comes in many forms, but should never be confused with abuse and oppression.

2. The author’s decision to develop the character of Amaka as a foil for Kambili is mainly for what
purpose?
a. To reveal the theme of family; Kambili and Amaka are family and will support each other
despite their differences.
b. To reveal Kambili’s internal conflict; she wants to be a faithful daughter to her father, but
also wants to develop into her own independent young woman.
c. To reveal the tension that colonialism created in Nigeria; the differences between Kambili
and Amaka mirror the tension between tradition and modernization in Nigeria.
d. To reveal the central irony of the novel; Kambili is the product of a home that appears
successful but is in fact a violent home, while Amaka’s situation is the opposite.

3. The novel begins on Palm Sunday, traces time backwards from that day, and finally returns back
to Palm Sunday and the days that follow it. This structure mainly serves to
a. characterize Papa as a tyrant.
b. move the plot forward in an interesting way.
c. emphasize the central role of Christianity in the novel.
d. highlight the central conflict of the novel.

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English 9 Unit Four: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Unit Test


PART TWO: Excerpt from the Novel
Directions: Read the excerpt from the novel and then use it to answer the questions that follow.

Excerpt from Purple Hibiscus, p. 206

It rained heavily the day that Ade Coker died, a strange, furious rain in the middle of the parched
harmattan. Ade Coker was at breakfast with his family when a courier delivered a package to him. His
daughter, in her primary school uniform, was sitting across the table from him. The baby was nearby, in
a high chair. His wife was spooning Cerelac into the baby’s mouth. Ade Coker was blown up when he

opened the package – a package everybody would have known was from the head of state even if his
wife Yewande had not said that Ade Coker looked at the envelope and said “It has the State House seal”
before he opened it.

When Jaja and I came home from school, we were almost drenched by the walk from the car to
the front door; the rain was so heavy it had formed a small pool beside the hibiscuses. My feet itched
inside my wet leather sandals. Papa was crumpled on a sofa in the living room, sobbing. He seemed so
small, Papa who was so tall that he sometimes lowered his head to get through the doorways, that his
tailor always used extra fabric to sew his trousers. Now he seemed small; he looked like a rumpled roll
of fabric.

“I should have made Ade hold that story,” Papa was saying. “I should have protected him. I
should have made him stop that story.”

Mama held him close to her, cradling his face on her chest. “No,” she said. “O zugo. Don’t.”

Jaja and I stood watching. I thought about Ade Coker’s glasses, I imagined the thick bluish lenses
shattering, the white frames melting into sticky goo. Later, after Mama told us what had happened, how
it had happened, Jaja said, “It was God’s will, Papa,” and Papa smiled at Jaja and gently patted his back.

Papa organized Ade Coker’s funeral; he set up a trust for Yewande Coker and the children,
bought them a new house. He paid the Standard staff huge bonuses and asked them all to take a long
leave. Hollows appeared under his eyes during those weeks, as if someone had suctioned the delicate
flesh, leaving his eyes sunken in.

My nightmares started then, nightmares in which I saw Ade Coker’s charred remains spattered
on his dining table, on his daughter’s school uniform, on his baby’s cereal bowl, on his plate of eggs. In
some of the nightmares, I was the daughter and the charred remains became Papa’s.

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English 9 Unit Four: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Unit Test


4. Why does the author most likely include the detail that the package was from the Head of
State?

a. It reveals that Ade Coker had a relationship with the Head of State or someone in his office.
b. It reveals that Ade Coker was a spy who had been covertly working for the government.
c. It reveals that Ade Coker was killed by someone in the highest ranks of the government.
d. It reveals that Ade Coker should have been suspicious of the package.

5. What literary device is Adichie using in these sentences from the passage above?

• “The baby was nearby, in a high chair. His wife was spooning Cerelac into the baby’s
mouth. Ade Coker was blown up when he opened the package…”
• “…I imagined the thick bluish lenses shattering, the white frames melting into sticky
goo.”
• “I saw Ade Coker’s charred remains spattered on his dining table, on his daughter’s
school uniform, on his baby’s cereal bowl, on his plate of eggs.”
• “He seemed so small, Papa who was so tall that he sometimes lowered his head to get
through the doorways…”

a. metaphor
b. allusion
c. symbol
d. juxtaposition

6. What is the main impact of the literary device used in number 5 on the reader?
a. It highlights for the reader the conflict between the military government and the journalists
who are writing about them.
b. It further characterizes Ade Coker for the reader by revealing that he is not just a newspaper
editor, but also a father.
c. It emphasizes for the reader the devastating impact that the violence in Nigeria has on the
everyday lives of the people.
d. It reveals to the reader the impact that this assassination has on both Ade Coker’s family
and Kambili’s family.

7. The purple hibiscus is a central symbol in the novel. What does the flower symbolize?
a. hope
b. sacrifice
c. family
d. freedom

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English 9 Unit Four: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Unit Test

8. Which of the following best explains what Adichie is communicating to her reader through the
symbol of the hibiscus in this line from the excerpt.

“The rain was so heavy it had formed a small pool beside the hibiscuses.”

a. The wet hibiscus communicates to the reader that the conflict between freedom and
oppression is intensifying.
b. The wet hibiscus communicates Papa’s brokenness and the family’s deep concern for him in
this moment.
c. The wet hibiscus communicates that love has been lost in both Kambili’s family and in the
country of Nigeria.
d. The wet hibiscus communicates that the sacrifices Kambili made to bring the hibiscus home
were for nothing.

9. Which of the following best expresses how the setting mirrors the mood of this passage?
a. The Achike family is in their living room and the mood is very peaceful.
b. It is an unusually rainy day and the mood is unusually somber and subdued.
c. It is the harmattan season which is normally dry and the mood is one of being surprised.
d. They are inside their home during the rain, and the mood is one of being sheltered and
protected.

10. Which sentence best expresses the theme of the passage?

a. The personal is political and the political is personal.
b. Each small moment of life should be appreciated.
c. Violence begets violence.
d. No person can escape his/her fate.

11. Which piece of evidence from the passage supports the answer to number 10?
a. “Ade Coker was at breakfast with his family when a courier delivered a package to
him…everyone would have known it was from the head of state.”
b. “Later, after Mama told us what had happened, how it had happened, Jaja said, “It was
God’s will, Papa…gently patted his back.”
c. “’I should have protected him. I should have made him stop that story.’”
d. “It rained heavily the day that Ade Coker died, a strange, furious rain in the middle of the
parched harmattan.”

©2016, Match Education 4



English 9 Unit Four: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Unit Test


PART THREE: Poem
Directions: Read the poem below and use it to answer the questions that follow.

Quilts

Like a fading piece of cloth
I am a failure

No longer do I cover tables filled with food and laughter
My seams are frayed my hems falling my strength no longer able
To hold the hot and cold

I wish for those first days
When just woven I could keep water
From seeping through
Repelled stains with the tightness of my weave
Dazzled sunlight with my
Reflection

I grow old though pleased with my memories
The tasks I can no longer complete
Are balanced by the love of tasks gone past

I offer no apology only
This plea:

When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end
Please someone cut a square and put me ina quilt
That I might keep some child warm


And some old person with no one else to talk to
Will hear my whispers

And cuddle
Near

--- Nikki Giovanni

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English 9 Unit Four: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Unit Test



12. Which of the following words best describes the speaker’s tone in lines 1-5?
a. angry
b. jealous
c. puzzled
d. defeated

13. Based on lines 12-14, what is the speaker’s reward for her present condition?
a. a life of leisure
b. help with her work
c. a sense of confidence
d. reflecting on her successes

14. What is the most likely reason the speaker specifically wants an old person to “hear my
whispers?”
a. The speaker feels she can gain wisdom from old people.
b. The speaker can empathize with old people who are alone.
c. The speaker believes young people do not need her assistance.
d. The speaker does not have much in common with young people.

15. How has the speaker changed by the end of the poem?
a. She has learned to respect others.
b. She has learned to be more affectionate.
c. She has started feeling safe in modern times.
d. She has accepted being part of a greater purpose.

PART FOUR: Essay

Directions: Use the poem above as well as your knowledge of the novel, Purple Hibiscus, to write a well-
crafted essay in response to the prompt below.

Prompt: In the poem, “Quilts” by Nikki Giovanni and in the novel, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie, the writers develop the theme of identity, specifically how identity can change over time. Use
evidence from both texts to explain how each writer conveys this theme.

FCA #1 – Thesis: Begin with a universal idea/theme statement that is accurate and can be supported
with examples from the text

FCA #2 – Evidence: Use well-chosen evidence to support thesis

FCA #3 – Structure: Two paragraphs each revealing a way the author reveals theme

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