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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. How does Joseph convince Maxo to leave him there in his house after all the violence in October 2004?

2. What does Mira tell the children about the fire escape?

3. What disguise does Joseph wear to move between houses in Bel Air in October 2004?

4. Where does Joseph stay when he first flees his house in October 2004?

5. Who is the neighbor that Joseph hears was thrown off the roof for trying to save the church's generator from thieves?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Danticat mistake the fire escape of her family's New York apartment for?

2. How does Danticat's brother Karl react to her when she first arrives in New York?

3. What folktale about hell does Danticat recall Granme Melina telling?

4. In the section "Brother, I Can Speak," how does Danticat's father refer to Danticat and Bob in front of Joseph when he comes to visit in New York?

5. What does Danticat's brother Bob tell their other brothers Kelly and Karl on their first night in New York all together?

6. Whose house does Joseph initially take refuge in when he is in hiding in Haiti in October 2004?

7. How does Tante Zi get Joseph out of hiding and safely to the airport in October 2004?

8. What factor about Danticat's pregnancy causes her some anxiety?

9. What does Danticat's father have to say about having an only child?

10. What is the first present Danticat's father gives to her upon her arrival in the United States?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing the effect that Joseph's mechanical voice box, which he acquires on a trip to the United States in the early 1980s, has on the rest of his life.

Essay Topic 2

Why does Danticat's Uncle Joseph turn to religion? By the end of the book, does Joseph seem to have found the meaning he was searching for in his religious work? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 3

When Marie Micheline becomes pregnant out of wedlock in 1974, Tante Denise and Uncle Joseph are distraught, and they send Marie Micheline off to a distant part of town to have the baby. What does Marie Micheline's experience and Tante Denise's and Uncle Joseph's reaction to it indicate about the cultural attitudes towards women at that time in Haitian culture? Write an essay explaining your answer.

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