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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 9, where does the narrator live?

2. In Chapter 12, how large is the lot on which the narrator’s house is built?

3. In Chapter 8, who is allowed to hear the conversation between mother and child about the world?

4. Where did Thuy and her family live when they first came to the United States?

5. In Chapter 10, what city is the setting?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the major decide had happened to him when he got back into his car in Chapter 10?

2. What does the narrator discover in Chapter 13 when she prepared Thuy’s body?

3. When and where did Thuy and the narrator meet Ly?

4. To whom is the narrator speaking in Chapter 8 and why?

5. In Chapter 11, what frightened Miss Giau during her first Christmas in America?

6. According to the narrator in Chapter 12, why are the poor spineless?

7. Where did Mr. Cohen live before he lived in the United States?

8. In Chapter 12, why didn’t the narrator’s family come with him to America?

9. Why does the narrator in Chapter 9 find it strange that he escaped Vietnam and so many others didn’t?

10. In Chapter 12, how does the narrator describe the special shoe that he owns?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 7, the narrator admits that he is a wimpy man. Why is the narrator a wimp? How does his lack of physical presence affect his marriage? What does he do that enhances his status with his wife? How does that affect his relationship with his wife?

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 14, the parasail is a symbol of returning to earth, to reality. In what way have Gabrielle and Vinh lost touch with reality? How has it affected their relationship? How has their vacation opened their eyes to the knowledge that they need to return to earth? How does the parasail symbolize that return.

Essay Topic 3

The narrator in Chapter 7 is accustomed to getting retribution when someone tries to take his wife. Why doesn’t the narrator ever use physical force? How is he able to deal with the problem when he lives in Vietnam? How does he decide to deal with the problem in America? Does the narrator’s lack of physical prowess interfere with his revenge in any way? How does the narrator use his mind to solve the problem of his wife rather than brawn?

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