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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 13, what book does Marisol quote?

2. In Chapter 15, why does Luis say that the Cuban authorities might be keeping an eye on Marisol?

3. In Chapter 23, where does Elisa hear that Pablo died?

4. In Chapter 15, why does Marisol feel as if she has lost her grandmother all over again?

5. In Chapter 12, what does Alejandro find Elisa to tell her?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 20, what does Elisa want to do that Magda cautions her against, but then joins her in?

2. In Chapter 15, whose address does Ana give to Marisol, and why?

3. In Chapter 13, what does Ana tell Marisol about the beginning of Castro's regime?

4. In Chapter 22, what does Luis tell Elisa about how she should feel about her biological grandfather being Pablo?

5. In Chapter 18, how do Elisa and her family find out that Batista has made plans to leave the country?

6. In Chapter 20, what development in Havana does Elisa's mother seem truly appalled to have heard about?

7. In Chapter 15, how and where does Marisol's relationship with Luis progress into romantic territory?

8. In Chapter 12, how does Elisa feel about Magda?

9. In Chapter 19, what does Magda tell Marisol about Elisa's secret concerning Pablo that shocks Marisol?

10. In Chapter 19, what does Luis tell Marisol when she tells him she wants to belong in Cuba but she feels like she is a guest in her own country?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing and exploring Marisol's complex feelings when she first arrives in Cuba at the start of the novel, keeping in mind her main reason for traveling there and citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

What does Marisol learn about the Rodriguez family's paladar? What does the paladar symbolize about class inequality and struggle in Cuba? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Marisol worries about how Luis will settle into life in America, a country he has never visited and that he harbors a certain wariness towards based at least in part on its decades of embargoes and sanctions against Cuba. Write an essay explaining some of the tensions and misgivings Luis feels about America. Do you think he will be able to adjust successfully to life there as an exile himself?

(see the answer keys)

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