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. What does the professor show Marie shortly before he dies in "Office Hours"?

2. Who is one of Marie's colleagues in "Office Hours"?

3. In Peking Duck, where does the narrator often go to learn English?

4. What happens to the flowers Marie brings from the passageway to her office in "Office Hours"?

5. What does the priest tell the narrator the soil of the Garboza forest is like in "Returning"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Marie think she may have ended up on the tenure track in "Office Hours"?

2. What is Peter's novel, Homecoming, about?

3. How does the narrator in "Returning" feel at her college reunion?

4. What is the purpose of the "Morning Ritual" in "Returning"?

5. What is the narrator's relationship with Y like in "Returning"?

6. What does Marie specialize in in "Office Hours"?

7. Why does the narrator panic a bit at the end of "Returning"?

8. What does the narrator act like when she is first married to Peter in "Returning"?

9. How does the narrator eventually get out of the airport in "Returning"?

10. What is the narrator's reaction to Peter's gifting her the engagement ring in "Returning"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does the mating call of the yeti and the narrator in "Yeti Lovemaking" symbolize in Ma's telling of this story? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What are the mother and daughter in the story "Peking Duck" in constant conflict over, and how does Ma represent and communicate this conflict to the reader? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

What problems and tensions does the narrator in the story "Office Hours" experience in her professional life at the university? How does she handle these problems and tensions? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 566 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample