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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 street does Danticat live on as a child in New York?

2. What story does Tante Denise tell Danticat the last time Danticat visits her in Haiti?

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

4. Why does Danticat sense that Bob eats so much during their first dinner with their parents in the United States?

5. Why does Joseph choose not to use his voice box often during the last days of October 2004?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does Marie Micheline die?

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

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

6. What do some of the neighborhood gang members demand of Joseph in October 2004?

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

8. Why are some neighbors angry with Joseph in October 2004?

9. In the section titled "Gypsy," what is Danticat's new home in America like physically?

10. What story about Marie Micheline does Danticat tell her Uncle Joseph the night of Marie Micheline's funeral?

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

Danticat's father, Mira, experiences oppression both in Haiti and America. Write an essay comparing and contrasting the sources and manifestations of the oppression Mira experiences in both countries.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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