Purple Hibiscus

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1, Pages 3-16

Reading Check

1. What church service does Jaja refuse to attend?

2. What does Papa throw at Jaja?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Papa try to control what happens in his family? Do you think it is effective?

2. What is Kambili referring to when she says the family spoke more “with their spirits than their lips”? What change in her family dynamics is she highlighting?

Paired Resource

Nigerian Culture

• This article offers some details on Nigerian culture.
• What is unique about Nigeria’s population in Africa? What are some notable points regarding arts, culture, and people of the country? What connected ideas might relate to the themes of Freedom of Speech and Postcolonial Politics and The Dangers of Intolerance and Spiritual Transformation?

Part 2, Pages 19-51

Reading Check

1. Who sings traditional songs at Mass?

2. How does Mama lose her baby?

3. What does the family pray for while Mama is in the hospital after losing her baby?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Papa vow to do when the government coup occurs?

2. What does Papa expect of Kambili’s performance in school and how does he reinforce this idea to her?

3. Why do other students think Kambili is a snob?

Paired Resource

Perfectionism

• This article describes why perfectionism is harmful.
• Why does perfectionism often do more harm than good? What are the different aspects of perfectionism? Where can perfectionism come from? What can parents do to prevent perfectionism? How is this article related to the novel’s characters and theme of The Dangers of Intolerance and Spiritual Transformation?

Part 2, Pages 52-109

Reading Check

1. What does Kambili become at school?

2. What does Papa become in Abba on Christmas break?

3. Who does Papa shun for embracing the old ways?

4. What is the name of the festival Kambili and Jaja attend with Aunty Ifeoma and her family?

5. What does Aunty Ifeoma reveal about Papa-Nnukwu’s health?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Kambili feel about her Papa-Nnukwu? How does his personality differ from her father?

2. What emotions does Kambili associate with Aunty Ifeoma’s family and how does this compare to her own?

Paired Resource

Abusive Family Structures

• Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing; mentions of abuse (including sexual abuse)
• This article describes the family structures of abusive relationships and may provide ideas and language for sensitive discussion points on the topic.
• Connected discussion points might include how Kambili’s family exhibits characteristics of an abusive family structure; how the rules in Kambili’s household indicate abuse at home; how victims of abuse cope with their own feelings and that of the abuser; the three “rules” of dysfunctional families.

Part 2, Pages 110-205

Reading Check

1. What surprising thing does Aunty Ifeoma pray for?

2. What unique flower does Jaja find in the garden?

3. What minister is a guest in Aunty Ifeoma’s home?

4. Who does Amaka paint a portrait of?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do the children stay longer with Aunty Ifeoma than expected?

2. Aunty Ifeoma tells Kambili to stand up for herself, and when she does she says that she has “found her voice.” Why is Kambili often silent when she wishes to speak out?

3. Why does Papa pour scalding water on Kambili’s feet?

Paired Resource

Difficulties Facing Post-Colonial Societies

• This article describes the postcolonial problems Africans face with the division of land imposed by Europeans during colonization.
• What effect has the partitioning of Africa had on postcolonial African cultures? What are the proposed solutions to these conflicts? How have conservation areas served the Africans in merging colonial borders? How is this article related to the novel’s theme of Freedom of Speech and Postcolonial Politics?

Part 2, Pages 206-253

Reading Check

1. What kills Ade Coker while he is at breakfast with his family?

2. Why is Kambili brutally beaten almost to the point of death?

3. Who does Father Amadi remind Kambili of?

4. Where does Father Amadi take Kambili to get her hair done?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Kambili notice about the attire worn in St. Peter’s Catholic Chaplaincy?

2. Why does Mama come to Nsukka and what does she reveal?

Part 3, Pages 257-291

Reading Check

1. What happens to Aunty Ifeoma’s university job?

2. Where does Father Amadi plan to go?

3. What does Amaka refuse to do when the missionaries initially established the church?

4. What news does Mama have of Papa when she calls Aunty Ifeoma?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Kambili like about Father Amadi?

2. What is revealed about the way Papa died and who takes the blame for his death?

Part 4, Pages 295-307

Reading Check

1. What does Mama tell everyone in town about Papa’s death?

2. What news does the family learn about Jaja’s incarceration?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What changes have overcome Jaja since his incarceration?

2. How do Kambili’s relatives describe life in America?

Recommended Next Reads

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

• This novel follows two halves of one family spanning seven generations as they have two different experiences-- one in the slave trade and the other in Ghana.
• Shared topics include family, oppression, and African history
• Shared Themes include The Dangers of Intolerance and Spiritual Transformation and Freedom of Speech and Postcolonial Politics.
• Homegoing on SuperSummary

Half of the Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

• This novel is about five characters who find themselves involved in the Nigerian Civil War.
• Shared topics include postcolonialism, complicated family dynamics, and the Nigerian Civil War.
• Shared themes include The Dangers of Intolerance and Spiritual Transformation and Freedom of Speech and Postcolonial Politics.
• Half of the Yellow Sun on SuperSummary