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

Short Answer Questions

1. What reason does Ignacio give for killing his wife?

2. How does Reina feel about Constancia's cosmetics business?

3. Where is the only place Blanca wants to make love to her husband after their honeymoon?

4. Which of his parents' belongings does Ignacio sell to earn the funds to publish his first book?

5. How far does Ignacio claim it was to the nearest town, to which he carried his wife's dead body?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Cuban revolution plays a small role in the background of the novel. How does the Cuban Revolution affect the main characters, the Aguero sisters, during the course of this novel? What symbolic importance does the war have on what is happening in the sisters' lives? Why might Cristina Garcia have chosen to include it in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Money seems to be the one driving force in Dulce Aguero's life. Explain what Dulce's life was like while she was living in Cuba and why the prostitution jobs she took seemed necessary. Then, explain how Dulce's quest for financial stability affected the romantic relationships in her life.

Essay Topic 3

For three generations, men have been impossibly attracted to the Aguero women - from Blanca to Reina to Dulce. Compare/contrast the way that each of these women used their attractiveness to better their own lives, and the relationships that each of these women had with the men who admired them.

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