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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. Why does Danticat's father lose his job on the day they arrive in the United States from Haiti?

2. Who does Danticat share a bunk bed with in Joseph's house?

3. What is Danticat's father's nickname, Mira, short for?

4. What kind of stand does Tante Zi run in Haiti?

5. What drug is Danticat's father prescribed that he decides not to take?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Where had Danticat moved to from Brooklyn in 2002?

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

4. Who is the father of Marie Micheline's first baby and what is that person's reaction when confronted with the fact of the pregnancy?

5. 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?

6. What does Danticat's mother give to her at the last possible minute at the airport to take with her on the plane?

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

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

9. What illness does Uncle Joseph suffer from that eventually robs him of his voice?

10. What does Danticat's brother Kelly recall when she tells him she is pregnant in the section titled "We're All Dying"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Danticat recalls a Haitian saying advising people who are washing others' children to only wash one side of the child, which she interprets as advising adults not to get too attached to children who are not their own. Write an essay analyzing the meaning of this saying and decide whether or not it seems to apply to Danticat's specific experience being raised by both Joseph and Mira.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the links between new life and death in Danticat's personal life experiences with her father and her baby. Cite specific examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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