Second-Class Citizen Questions and Answers
Second-Class Citizen
What are the themes in Second-Class Citizen?
The novel Second-Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta presents several important themes including misogyny, immigration, racial prejudice, and female strength. The novel reveals the deeply engrained...
Second-Class Citizen
Who are the characters in Second-Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta?
Our protagonist in this great novel is Adah Ofili, and the story follows her life from childhood into adulthood. Adah was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and due to the "unfortunate" fact that she was a...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss Francis as a failed husband in Second Class Citizen.
In Second Class Citizen Buchi Emecheta writes about a girl called Adah, who dreams of leaving Nigeria and instead wants to live in the United Kingdom, a country she imagines to be the land of her...
Second-Class Citizen
What is a summary of chapter one of Second-Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta?
Chapter 1 is entitled “Childhood,” as it looks back at the very beginning of Adah’s life. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria, and her family is from an upper-class background. Adah grows up just years...
Second-Class Citizen
What are the literary devices used in Second-Class Citizen?
Buchi Emeta uses many literary devices in Second-Class Citizen. These include personification, allusion, and simile. One example of personification relates to Adah’s identification of the river...
Second-Class Citizen
What is a summary of chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Second-Class Citizen?
Chapter 5 of “Second-Class Citizen” is titled “An Expensive Lesson.” The chapter starts with Adah having a difficult morning. She is pregnant and feels tired. As if this is not enough, her baby...
Second-Class Citizen
What is a summary of Second-Class Citizen?
Second-Class Citizen, written by Buchi Emecheta, tells the story of Adah, a Nigerian woman who overcomes setback after setback in her life due to her being classified as a second-class citizen. The...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss the theme of racism based on stigmas and stereotypes in the novel Second-Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta.
Adah has always dreamed of one day going to England. Indeed, it is the pinnacle of her ambition. But when she sets foot in the country as a teen bride, the dream quickly turns into a nightmare. Far...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss the theme of motherhood in Second-Class Citizen.
A large portion of Adah’s desire to bring change to her life and improve her circumstances stems from her responsibilities as a mother. While she has always been ambitious, she prioritizes her...
Second-Class Citizen
What makes Francis a failed parent in Second-Class Citizen?
While there is no universal definition of what makes a parent a failure, a compelling case can be made for Francis Obi's failure in this area. It is also easy to argue that he is a failure as a...
Second-Class Citizen
What makes Adah a good mother and a good wife?
There are two tensions in Adah's attempts to be a good mother and a good wife, leading to contradictions which are almost certain to emerge whenever a wife and mother is married to an abusive...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss the theme of the stubborn woman in marriage in Second-Class Citizen.
All too often in literature, the theme of the stubborn woman can be put to misogynistic ends to portray women as shrewish, nagging, and chronically unreasonable. Stubbornness in women was not...
Second-Class Citizen
How is the theme of gender discrimination present in the novel?
Second Class Citizen is a novel written by Buchi Emecheta. It was first published in 1974. It follows the life of Adah, who grew up in Nigeria and then moved to the United Kingdom in order to join...
Second-Class Citizen
How is the theme of irresponsible husbandhood presented in Second-Class Citizen?
In Second-Class Citizen, the character of Francis Obi embodies the theme of irresponsible husbandhood. After they are married, Adah Ofili’s impression of him changes. Adah had been attracted to...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss the theme of determination in the novel Second-Class Citizen.
In Buchi Emecheta's novel Second-Class Citizen, Adah often seems like the embodiment of determination. Even as a young girl, she is determined to go to school. While her family thinks that school...
Second-Class Citizen
What is the lesson learned in chapter 12 of Second-Class Citizen?
In chapter 12 of Second-Class Citizen, Adah experiences something of an epiphany. At this crucial stage in the story, she starts to think of herself as more of an individual rather than a mere...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss the role of Adah Ofili in Second-Class Citizen.
Throughout Second-Class Citizen, our protagonist, Adah Ofili, is expected to fulfill a variety of roles. She is a dutiful daughter, and after tragedy strikes, she becomes a ward and slave. Later,...
Second-Class Citizen
According to Adah, marriage is not a bed of roses but a funnel of thorns, fire, and hot nails. Why does she say that?
Adah does not marry for love; she marries to pursue her dreams. She has wanted to go to the United Kindgom since she was eight years old, and she stops at nothing to pursue that goal. Still, even...
Second-Class Citizen
Who is Adah in Second-Class Citizen?
At the start of this novel, Adah is a young Nigerian girl who has dreams of getting an education and making something of her life. By the end, she is a battered wife determined to leave her...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss the significance of Adah's first day at school in Second-Class Citizen.
Buchi Emecheta's novel Second Class Citizen follows the journey of the protagonist, Adah, from childhood to adulthood. Throughout her life, Adah overcomes many obstacles, and through her...
Second-Class Citizen
Describe in detail how Pa Noble came to be a landlord in Second-Class Citizen.
Pa Noble used to work as a liftman on the London Underground. It wasn't his first choice of career; he came to London to study law but was never able to succeed in his studies. He tried finding...
Second-Class Citizen
How is dramatic irony used in Second-Class Citizen?
Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows more about the situation in a literary work than the characters do. Indeed, dramatic irony is built right into the title of Buchi Emecheta's novel...
Second-Class Citizen
Compare and contrast Adah with Francis in Second-Class Citizen.
There are far more points of contrast than comparison between Adah and Francis in Buchi Emecheta's Second-Class Citizen. We can, however, identify a couple points of comparison, at least early on...
Second-Class Citizen
What is the name of Ada's first child in Second-Class Citizen?
Adah's first-born child is a daughter, who she and her husband, Francis Obi, name Titi. Titi's birth came as a disappointment to Francis and his family, as it was widely hoped within the family...
Second-Class Citizen
Provide a note on each character in Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta.
Our protagonist in this great story is Adah Ofili. As a child, all Adah wanted was the opportunity to get an education. Through sheer determination, she completes her secondary education and then...
Second-Class Citizen
Write a summary and analysis of chapters 6–8 of Second-Class Citizen.
In Chapter 6, Adah and Francis are evicted from their apartment and must find a new place to live. Landlords either refuse to rent to “coloured” people or lie and say the place is already rented....
Second-Class Citizen
Where is the climax in Second-Class Citizen?
In Buchi Emecheta's novel, Second-Class Citizen, Adah dreams of moving to the United Kingdom as a little girl. When she is old enough to work, she finds a job that pays well, and which guarantees...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss the attitude of Francis towards Adah in London in Second-Class Citizen.
When Adah moves from Lagos to London to join her husband, Francis, she finds him a changed person. In Nigeria she had believed that the shared the same dream of finding success in England. During...
Second-Class Citizen
What was Adah's first hindrance towards achieving her dream in Second-Class Citizen?
In Buchi Emecheta's novel Second-Class Citizen, the young Adah develops a two-part dream. She wants to go and live in the United Kingdom, and she wants an education. But obstacles to this dream...
Second-Class Citizen
Describe Adah's cold welcome to London in Second-Class Citizen.
In Second-Class Citizen, Adah's welcome to London is cold in both the literal and the figurative sense. In the literal sense, the English weather is incredibly cold, certainly a lot colder than the...
Second-Class Citizen
How does Emecheta use biblical allusions in Second-Class Citizen?
In Second-Class Citizen, the story's protagonist, Adah, comes from a part of Nigeria where Christianity is the dominant religion. That being the case, it's not surprising that the author uses a...
Second-Class Citizen
What are some Nigerian expressions used in Second-Class Citizen?
There are a number of occasions in which Buchi Emecheta uses Nigerian expressions and words in Second-Class Citizen. Doing this helps give the story a distinctly Nigerian flavor and highlights the...
Second-Class Citizen
Describe the satire in Second-Class Citizen.
The novel Second-Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta is rife with the frustrating anecdotes suffered by Adah Obi, a young woman of the Ibo people of Nigeria whose status among her people contrasts...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss the theme of male privilege in Second-Class Citizen.
Male privilege is evident in Nigerian society right from the start of Adah's story, when the fact that she is a girl means she must fight to be sent to school and get an education. For her brother,...
Second-Class Citizen
Examine the significance of the return of the lawyer Nweze from his studies abroad in Second-Class Citizen.
In Buchi Emecheta's Second-Class Citizen, the return of the lawyer Nweze to Nigeria is significant because it deepens Adah's dream of going to the United Kingdom and because it shows readers a...
Second-Class Citizen
Describe Adah's relationship with children in Second-Class Citizen.
Adah's husband Francis is an old-fashioned Nigerian man who doesn't believe in any kind of birth control except natural family planning. Inevitably, this means that Adah ends up giving birth at...
Second-Class Citizen
Who is Titi in Second-Class Citizen?
Second-Class Citizen is a novel written by Buchi Emecheta. It was first published in 1974 and follows the story of Adah, who eventually leaves her homeland and moves to Great Britain, following her...
Second-Class Citizen
After she got to London, what happened?
The novel Second-Class Citizen, by Buchi Emecheta, follows the life of its protagonist, Adah. Adah grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. During her childhood and youth, Adah developed the desire to live in...
Second-Class Citizen
Comment on Adah’s relationship with her children in Second-Class Citizen.
Adah’s relationship with her children is governed by her desire to make the best possible life for them. However, she is also deeply aware that every time Francis pressures her into getting...
Second-Class Citizen
Why is Adah called the Ibo Tigress in Second-Class Citizen?
In chapter 2 of Buchi Emecheta's novel Second Class Citizen, we learn that Adah, a young Ibo woman, is quite progressive, headstrong, and independent within the parameters established by her...
Second-Class Citizen
What is the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution for Second-Class Citizen?
The exposition in Second-Class Citizen occurs when Adah's educational aspirations and her childhood dream of living in the United Kingdom are revealed. The rising action occupies the majority of...
Second-Class Citizen
What are some superstitious beliefs and traditions in Second-Class Citizen?
In Second-Class Citizen, Buchi Emecheta includes and comments on various superstitious beliefs and traditions, making the point that the difference between a belief condemned as superstitious and...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss three cultural practices among the Igbo culture in Second-Class Citizen.
Three cultural practices among the Igbo in Second-Class Citizen are that men rule the roost, that women are second-class citizens, and that women are not supposed to get ideas. All of these...
Second-Class Citizen
Who is the craw craw boy in Second-Class Citizen?
When Adah arrives at school, having intermittently run and walked from her home, managing to remain unseen by her Ma or any of her friends, Mr. Cole has her sit next to a boy who is described as...
Second-Class Citizen
Examine the role and character of Adah in the novel Second-Class Citizen.
The role of Adah in Second-Class Citizen is to highlight the problems encountered by the wave of post-war immigrants in the United Kingdom. Adah's experiences are fairly representative of those...
Second-Class Citizen
What are the reader's impressions of Francis in Second-Class Citizen?
Our impressions of Francis in Second-Class Citizen are not very favorable, to say the least. An abusive, controlling husband, he sees his wife Adah as little more than a baby factory whose sole...
Second-Class Citizen
Why does Adah take such a drastic step to achieve her goals in Second-Class Citizen?
In Second-Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta, Adah knows what she wants out of her life. Her dream has long been to get an education and to live in the UK, and she takes several drastic steps along...
Second-Class Citizen
Discuss the theme of colonialism.
Colonialism and its enduring legacy is a central theme in Second-Class Citizen. The protagonist, Adah, is an indigenous African born in Nigeria during World War II and spends her entire childhood...
Second-Class Citizen
Justify the fact that some traditional African practices are discriminatory against women.
Second Class Citizen is a 1974 novel written by Buchi Emecheta. It tells the story of a Nigerian woman who overcomes sexist traditional African (Nigerian) practices to eventually provide an...
Second-Class Citizen
How old is Titi in Second-Class Citizen?
Titi is almost two years old and Vicki nine months when Adah falls pregnant with another child. Although Adah is a loving mother who regards having children as a blessing, she's also aware that it...
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