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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 Okenwa eat with his parents each visit?

2. What does the narrator say his parents smell like at the start of the story?

3. Whose films did Okenwa watch obsessively when he was young?

4. How old are the narrator's parents in the present at the start of the story?

5. What do the narrator's parents believe their neighbor's unusual vomiting experience was proof of?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Okenwa's mother treat the houseboys?

2. Under what circumstances did the houseboys that preceded Raphael stop working for Okenwa's family?

3. What does Okenwa imagine would be different if he did have a family, as his parents hoped? Why?

4. What questions do Okenwa's parents often ask him when he visits?

5. What has changed about Okenwa's parents since retirement?

6. How did Okenwa feel about reading compared to his parents?

7. What are some of the "incredible stories" Okenwa's parents tell him on his visits?

8. What was Okenwa passionate about, which he did not share with his parents? Who does he meet who shared this passion?

9. How does Okenwa describe his elderly parents at the start of the story?

10. What did Okenwa's parents do for work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define setting and discuss the significance of the settings in the story. The story takes place in Okenwa's parents home in the present, his childhood home, and briefly in Raphael's room. In what way does each setting develop the themes of the story and move the plot forward?

Essay Topic 2

Away from the main character examine the way the author uses the other characters in the story. When does he introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss elements of the narrative structure: Exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the narrative structure express the story's themes?

(see the answer keys)

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