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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 was Marie Micheline studying in 1974?

2. Where does Danticat move to in the early 2000s?

3. What treat does Danticat remember getting on the street with Joseph when she was a child?

4. What are some of the side effects of Danticat's treatment for her illness in 1980?

5. What do some of the cruel neighbors say to Joseph after his throat surgery?

Short Essay Questions

1. What force does Uncle Joseph and Mira's father, Granpe Nozial, join in the early decades of the 1900s in Haiti?

2. In the section titled "Good-bye," what book does Danticat select to buy for herself while out with Joseph and why?

3. In the section titled "Good-bye," how do the children determine that Granme Melina has died?

4. In the section titled Good-bye, how does Danticat remember neighbors treating her Uncle Joseph after his tracheotomy?

5. How does Danticat react when she sees her pregnancy test is positive?

6. How does Joseph communicate and what does he communicate at Granme Melina's funeral since he can not give a sermon due to the loss of his voice?

7. What two opposite pieces of news does Danticat receive on the same day in early July 2004?

8. What does Danticat's mother do for her in preparation for her leaving for the United States in the section titled "Heartstrings, Shoestrings"?

9. Why does Joseph start to take the children in his house on simple errands with him following his laryngectomy?

10. In the section titled "We're All Dying," what does Danticat's friend tell her when Danticat informs her about how ill her father is?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What were Joseph's and Mira's first experiences with and impressions of Americans, respectively? How do you think each man's impressions of Americans and of America changed over their lifetimes? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 2

When Danticat's parents return to Haiti in 1976 to begin the process of bringing she and her brother Bob permanently back to the United States, Danticat is ambivalent about their presence and about the situation. Write an essay exploring the range of her feelings and explaining why she was not simply overjoyed to have her parents back in her life again at that time.

Essay Topic 3

Marie Micheline dies in the midst of a violent outbreak in her neighborhood, and there is shooting outside by neighborhood gangs at Tante Denise's funeral. Write an essay exploring how the backdrop of violence in Danticat's family's Bel Air neighborhood in Haiti affects their lives and their outlooks.

(see the answer keys)

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