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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 Liline say to Danticat and Bob when they leave for the United States?

2. What does Tante Zi do when Danticat tells her about her and Bob's illness?

3. Why does Danticat's father not want to take the medication the doctor has prescribed?

4. When does Uncle Joseph meet his wife, Tante Denise?

5. What was the name of Joseph's and Mira's mother?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. In the section titled "Have You Enjoyed Your Life?", what does the herbalist Danticat's father takes her to tell her about her health?

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. 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?

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

9. What eventually happens with Marie Micheline's first husband, Pressoir?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Given the United States' long, violent, and often exploitative relationship with Haiti, what do you think is Danticat's opinion of the country she moved to as an adolescent? Given her family's experiences - especially Joseph's - in the United States, how would you describe her opinion of America? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 3

When Tante Zi helps Joseph escape his besieged and burning neighborhood in Bel Air, why does she tell him he could never have made the escape by himself? What does the situation that Joseph flees in Haiti reveal about his place in the community there and the relationships between and among the Haitians Joseph had known for decades? Write an essay explaining your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 871 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample