I Am Not Jessica Chen: 20‑Question Quiz
This quiz spans the full story of I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang.
Questions are divided into four sections: plot/sequence (8), character motivation (5), theme/symbol (4), and synthesis (3).
Some questions are multiple‑choice, others require a short written answer.
When you finish, compare your answers with the key at the bottom.
Plot / Sequence Questions
1. (Multiple choice)
What event directly triggers Jenna’s wish to become Jessica?
- A) Aaron Cai’s return from Paris
- B) Receiving her Harvard rejection and feeling overshadowed by Jessica’s acceptance
- C) A fight with her parents about college applications
- D) Finding Jessica’s journal
2. (Short answer)
How does Jenna first realize she is no longer in her own body?
3. (Multiple choice)
When Jenna attends Havenwood Academy as Jessica, what major announcement does she make in English class?
- A) That she is transferring schools
- B) That Jessica has been accepted to Harvard
- C) That she is really Jenna
- D) That she is quitting the debate team
4. (Multiple choice)
Which of the following is not a sign that Jenna’s original identity is being erased?
- A) Her self‑portrait changes
- B) Leela cannot remember “Jenna Chen”
- C) Aaron begins to date another girl
- D) Jenna’s bedroom is emptied and her belongings are put in the garage
5. (Short answer)
What secret does Jenna discover in Jessica’s journal that explains the anonymous threats?
6. (Multiple choice)
Who is the anonymous student threatening Jenna (while she is in Jessica’s body)?
- A) Lachlan Robertson
- B) Cathy Liu
- C) Celine Tan
- D) A random freshman
7. (Short answer)
Describe the specific event that reverses the body swap.
8. (Multiple choice)
At the end of the novel, what difficult choice does Jessica make?
- A) She moves to a new school
- B) She confesses to plagiarism
- C) She runs away from home
- D) She ignores the blackmailer
Character Motivation Questions
9. (Multiple choice)
Why does Jenna initially enjoy living as Jessica?
- A) She loves Jessica’s wardrobe and mansion
- B) She craves the admiration and validation that come with Jessica’s social status
- C) She wants to get revenge on Leela and Celine
- D) She hopes to win Aaron’s heart
10. (Short answer)
Why did Aaron leave for Paris without telling Jenna (the real Jenna)?
11. (Multiple choice)
Jessica later reveals that she was conscious during the body swap but chose not to take back control. Why?
- A) She was too frightened to act
- B) She enjoyed the rest and the freedom from relentless pressure
- C) She wanted to sabotage Jenna’s life
- D) She was physically unable to move
12. (Short answer)
What motivates Cathy Liu to send the threatening notes to Jessica?
13. (Multiple choice)
Why does Jenna (as Jessica) finally stand up to Lachlan Robertson in the principal’s office?
- A) She wants to protect the real Jessica’s reputation
- B) She is tired of pretending to be a perfect model student and refuses to stay silent
- C) She wants to impress Aaron with her bravery
- D) She feels sorry for Lachlan’s lost award
Theme / Symbol Questions
14. (Multiple choice)
The changing self‑portrait that Jenna painted of herself most clearly symbolizes:
- A) Her growing skill as an artist
- B) The erasure of her original identity
- C) Jessica’s hidden artistic talent
- D) The love she wishes to share with Aaron
15. (Short answer)
The novel portrays even major achievements—such as Harvard acceptance—as hollow. What theme does this illustrate?
16. (Multiple choice)
How do fairy tales and folklore function in the story?
- A) They provide comic relief during tense scenes
- B) They offer possible explanations for the body swap (e.g., face‑stealing tales)
- C) They are only mentioned as background decoration
- D) They predict exactly how the swap will be reversed
17. (Short answer)
What does the recurring “butterfly dream” motif (Zhuangzi’s paradox) suggest about Jenna’s experience?
Synthesis Questions
18. (Short answer)
How does the body‑swap plot device allow the novel to critique social hierarchies at Havenwood Academy?
19. (Short answer)
Compare what Jenna and each learn about themselves by the end of the story.
20. (Multiple choice)
The final line describes Jenna’s life as “a canvas she can paint in any color.” This image most directly emphasizes:
- A) That she has become a professional artist
- B) That she now owns her identity and future
- C) That she plans to swap places with Jessica again
- D) That she has abandoned her artistic dreams
Answer Key
1. B – Jenna’s Harvard rejection makes her feel worthless next to Jessica, and she wishes on a shooting star to become her cousin.
2. She wakes up in Jessica’s luxurious bedroom and later realizes her own body is missing.
3. B – In Chapter 3, she announces Jessica’s Harvard acceptance, earning applause.
4. C – Aaron never dates another girl; the other three are all signs of identity erasure.
5. Jessica plagiarized a thesis (Cathy Liu’s work) and worries about being exposed.
6. B – Cathy Liu is responsible; she wants revenge for the plagiarism and her own waitlist status.
7. Jenna climbs a mountain at dusk, paints her own face on a self‑portrait, and wishes on a meteor. She wakes in her own body next to the real Jessica.
8. B – Jessica decides to confess to plagiarism, valuing integrity over her Harvard acceptance.
9. B – Jenna is intoxicated by the admiration and inclusion she never had as herself.
10. He feared that once Jenna had him, she would lose interest—like she did with other goals she achieved.
11. B – Jessica felt exhausted by constant pressure and welcomed the chance to rest.
12. Cathy was waitlisted from Harvard and discovered that Jessica plagiarized her thesis; she wants Jessica’s perfect image to crumble.
13. B – Jenna refuses to perform the role of a passive, obedient “model student” and speaks her mind.
14. B – The paint spreading over the portrait represents Jenna’s original self being forgotten.
15. The emptiness of success without genuine connection or self‑acceptance; the crushing cost of perfectionism.
16. B – Jenna reads a grisly fairy tale about stealing another’s face, searching for clues about the swap.
17. The blurring of reality and illusion; the idea that identity is fluid and can be transformed.
18. By experiencing privilege as Jessica, Jenna sees how fame, wealth, and teacher favoritism create an arbitrary hierarchy—and how easily a person can be erased from it.
19. Jenna learns to stop chasing someone else’s life and accept her own worth; Jessica learns that integrity matters more than success and that she does not have to be perfect.
20. B – The image signifies that Jenna now has agency over her own story.
Want to explore more?