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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 does Reina offer to La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre in prayer?

2. What instrument does Ignacio's father, Renaldo, play?

3. How does Ignacio Aguero die?

4. After Herberto goes missing, what does Constancia begin selling door-to-door?

5. Which animals live in paddocks at Hialeah Park?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Reina adjust to living with Constancia?

2. What happens when Herberto decides to go fishing in Biscayne Bay?

3. How does Ignacio react to the news that his wife, Blanca, has gone missing?

4. What is Gonzalo's theory about Herberto's attackers, and how does Constancia feel about Gonzalo's theory?

5. How does Blanca's mental health deteriorate while she is pregnant with Constancia?

6. When does Constancia realize that her father, Ignacio, is lying to her about her mother's death?

7. What does Constancia discover when she finds the small copper box in her father's old shed in Cuba?

8. How does Silvestre react to seeing Gonzalo in the hospital?

9. How does Reina feel about her relationship with Russ after returning from the journey with her sister?

10. What is the incident that occurs in 1914 that Ignacio claims changed his father?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Constancia has an obsession with the need to stay youthful. Explain how youth becomes one of the driving forces in Constancia's life. Then, use Constancia's childhood at the pig farm to rationalize her desperate need to stay young and beautiful. Does she accomplish this in her lifetime? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Family history haunting you is one of the strongest themes in the novel, and is perhaps best exemplified by the relationship between Silvestre and his father, Gonzalo. Explain the relationship Silvestre had with his father and how the acts that took place on Gonzalo's deathbed symbolize Silvestre's fear of family history.

Essay Topic 3

After their mother's death, Constancia and Reina grew apart from one another as both had different views of their mother. Compare/contrast the childhood of each of the sisters and explain what factors led to the two sisters having a strained and distant relationship into their adulthood.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 914 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample