"The Thing Around Your Neck"
who is the author?
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The trip to Phoenix serves as a metaphor for this kind of personal journey
Self-discovery/healing
This character marries a man named James and becomes middle-class
Twyla
Who is the author of "Paper Menagerie"
Ken Liu
Who is the main character of the story?
Jing-mei (June)
this story is written in what POV
second person
This character represents practicality, realism, and bitterness toward the past
Victor
Morrison explores how childhood memories can do what over time?
Change or become unreliable
Name three animals that are in the menagerie.
Tiger, buffalo, shark
The names of the two songs at the end
What are "Pleading Child" and "Perfectly Contented"
Letters from Nigeria symbolize this:
home, memory, connection
The story is told in what point of view?
Third person limited
Roberta's repeated reappearance in Twyla's life symbolizes what?
The persistence of memory or the difficulty of moving on from the past.
What literary style is this written in?
Magical Realism
What tests or lessons does the mother put the daughter through?
Trivia quizzes, memorize facts, piano lessons
How does Akunna view her boyfriend's fascination with African culture?
She sees it as shallow or performative. He only knows African culture through media.
Why does Thomas insist on going to Phoenix?
He had a vision telling him to help Victor, and Victor's dad
What does Maggie's inability to speak symbolize?
Voicelessness or powerlessness
How does language serve as both a barrier and bridge in the story?
By refusing to speak Chinese, he separates himself from his mother and her culture. The letter at the end becomes a bridge to understanding her love for him.
What role does pride play for both the mother and daughter?
The mother wants a child prodigy, and the daughter does not think she has to try hard.
Adichie uses Akunna's silence in certain moments to symbolize what?
Voicelessness or cultural displacement. The feeling of not being able to fit in/being an outsider.
Where does Victor throw his father's ashes?
Spokane River
By the final section of the story, Twyla and Roberta are arguing about what social issue?
School desegregating/bussing
Why did the mother choose to put herself in the magazine?
Her family had been persecuted in China, and she was a servant in Hong Kong.
What does the piano symbolize in the story?
the struggle between mother and daughter; conflict and connection