AMERICANAH English Literature Paper 2 Quotes

Princeton as civilised and tidied

"Smelled of nothing", "delicately overpriced shops", "quiet, abiding air of earned grace" (3)

Princeton's illusion of choice

"Fifty different flavours including red pepper" (3)

Theme of race and identity introduced in opening

"The few black locals...were so light-skinned" (3)

Settings that describe the people within them

"Smelled of nothing", "delicately overpriced shops", "quiet, abiding air of earned grace", "locals who drove with pointed courtesy"

How a place gives you identity, how one adapts to the place they move to

"She could pretend to be someone else...adorned with certainty" (3), on the other hand, "she found it irresponsible, the eating of ice cream cones by grown-up American men in public" (4)

The contrast between Princeton and the Hair Salon

"Shabby block", "the room was thick with disregard", "paint peeling" (9)

Education

"learn a civilised language" (28)

Aunt Uju - public American persona

"Accent she put on when she spoke to white Americans"

the avoidance of race, unspoken

"This is America. You're supposed to pretend you don't notice certain things." (127)

Hair as a motif - simile about Ifemelu's mother's hair

"The hair lay on the floor like dead grass" (41)

Hair as a motif for race

for an interview - "lose the braids" (202), "you've got the white-girl swing!" (203), "if you have braids, they will think you are unprofessional" (chapter 11)

Obinze - not in love with Kosi

"He felt a hollow space between himself and the person he was supposed to be" (Part 1, Chapter 2)

Race in Nigeria vs US

"I didn't know I was even supposed to have issues until I came to America" (Chapter 12) Ginika

Relationship with Curt

"That was what Curt had given her, this gift of contentment, of ease." (C19)

How Ifemelu views race

"When you make the choice to come to America, you become black." (C21)

African growing up in America vs Nigeria

He expected her to feel what she did not know how to feel C34

Ifemelu returns to Nigeria

She was no longer sure what was new in Lagos and what was new in herself. (C44)

Ifemelu and Obinze

"she wanted to breathe the same air as Obinze" (C4), "He made her like herself"

"Not every black person is beautiful"

Ifemelu as direct

After straightening her hair

"She did not recognize herself" C19

Being a real American

"At least if you had an American accent we would tolerate your complaining" C44

Marriage of convenience

"You do not marry the man you love. You marry the man who can best maintain you" C46

Aunt Uju - Hair

You have to do what you have to do if you want to succeed C11

Aunt Uju - Identity

"Aunty Uju had deliberately left behind something of herself, something essential, in a distant and forgotten place" C11

Ifemelu as outspoken

Surly as a child

Ifemelu - feels hollow

"She had ignored, too, the cement in her soul"