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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. What did a medium once tell Maxine?

2. While with her army, what does the woman do at night?

3. What animal appears as a sign that it is time for the young woman to leave her parents to fight?

4. Where does Maxine attend college in the sixties?

5. In what decade did Maxine's father leave China?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "White Tigers," describe the return of the girl, now a young woman, to her village.

2. In "White Tigers," why does the young woman hide her gender from her army?

3. When she is about to stay overnight in the haunted room at school, what does the narrator's mother tell the other girls at medical school to do if they find her very afraid in the morning?

4. Describe one possibility the narrator considers to explain how her aunt may have become pregnant.

5. What are some things Moon Orchid has trouble adjusting to in America? Name at least three things.

6. How does the title of the section, "Shaman," relate to the stories told in the section?

7. How do the girls at the medical school get materials to burn out the ghost from the haunted room in the dorms?

8. Why does the narrator always add the word "brother" to boys' names?

9. What does speaking American feminine mean to the narrator?

10. Why doesn't the narrator visit her parents often?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A large part of the novel describes the narrator's childhood.

Part 1) Explain at least two of the secrets the narrator has to keep during her childhood. How do you think these secrets affected the narrator's personal and social life?

Part 2) Why do you think the Chinese American children are warned about immigration growing up? Explain what fears immigrants had during the time period of the novel's setting, and how these fears relate to the events of the novel as a whole.

Essay Topic 2

Beyond the title of the novel, the concept of a women warrior is repeated throughout the book.

Part 1) Explain the literal meaning behind the term "woman warrior" and where you are first introduced to it in the novel.

Part 2) Describe at least three examples in which the narrator may be viewed as a woman warrior.

Part 3) Explain the figurative meaning behind the term "woman warrior" and how it may be interpreted to reflect a woman in the narrator's setting.

Essay Topic 3

In "White Tigers" the narrator explains a story about a girl who trains to become a woman warrior.

Part 1) Compare and contrast the narrator and the protagonist of the story.

Part 2) Do you think the narrator admires or despises the protagonist of the story? Explain your answer using examples from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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