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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is the first narrator grateful there are no children on the boat?
(a) They do not understand oppression, therefore their presence is not validated.
(b) They would remind him of the despair they are struggling against.
(c) He could not bear their complaints or cries.
(d) They would add too much weight.

2. What does the first narrator do when Celianne goes into labor?
(a) Asks if anyone on the boat is a doctor.
(b) Keeps bailing water out so the boat doesn't sink.
(c) Moves to the other end of the boat.
(d) Helps her deliver the baby.

3. What is the setting the first narrator is in?
(a) The sea.
(b) Miami.
(c) Haiti.
(d) Heaven.

4. What specifically does the male narrator say about soldiers?
(a) They make a lot of money.
(b) They are acting in the best interest of the country.
(c) His love should marry a soldier to protect her family.
(d) They are not human.

5. Who said, "Gossip spreads here like everywhere else"?
(a) The old man.
(b) Celianne.
(c) The male narrator.
(d) A woman on the boat.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who said, "Now we will never be mistaken for Cubans?"

2. What does the first narrator say is the predominant religion of the others on board?

3. Why does Cèlianne wake up screaming the first time?

4. What does the first narrator write of the sea?

5. What does the male narrator say has finally made him an African?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the internal conflict of humanity vs. survival on the boat. What do the passengers choose to overlook? As their situation becomes more dire, what conflicts arise between them?

2. Think about the two different styles of writing each narrator uses. What does this tell us about them?

3. What does the female narrator's family do to protect themselves against the soldiers? Why is this important?

4. What happens at the airport? How does this tie to what the female narrator says about hope?

5. Describe the conditions on the boat.

6. How does Madan Roger's behavior differ from that of the female narrator's family?

7. What do they name Celianne's child? What does the male narrator say about naming a child? What does this contrast tell us?

8. What does the female narrator ask of her boyfriend? How does this differ from his request to her?

9. What does the narrator's father call Ville Rose? How is this ironic?

10. Why does the female narrator's father stay at his brother's house? What character embodies this fear?

(see the answer keys)

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