View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Marie cry in front of in Martinique?

2. Who is Marie surprised to see at Helene's wake?

3. Who does Marie feel safe with?

4. Where does the narrator's mother live?

5. Who does Marie and Robbie find down the street from Agathe's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was the early 1960s such a scary time for Marie?

2. What does Pop do to punish Helene?

3. Where do Marie's sons stay for a night in Connecticut?

4. What happens when Marie invites Thomas to her place for a nightcap?

5. Who is the first person Marie understood to be a spy?

6. Who tells Helene all about spies?

7. What happens at Helene's wake?

8. What does Thomas say about books?

9. What happens one summer at day camp?

10. What news does Helene give Marie at Tompkins Square Park?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you analyze Marie's anxieties about war. In what ways does the Cold War shape and inform that inherent fear? Use examples from the text to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout her mission in Africa, Marie is made very aware of her status as an American, despite feeling that in the U.S., she feels black before she feels American. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast Marie's notions of her American status while she is in Africa and the U.S.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you analyze Marie's attraction to a career as a spy. Where does this interest stem from, and how does it change throughout her life?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 535 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample