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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 earlier historical tragedy does the asylum system and process sometimes remind Danticat of?

2. What does Danticat's father have to say about having only children?

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

4. What do the neighborhood gangs and the neighbors do to Joseph's house?

5. Where does Joseph go after leaving the first neighbor's house he takes refuge in in October 2004?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Danticat's father do for work in the United States, and what are some of his challenges on the job?

4. When Joseph visits New York in 1983, what life-changing device does he receive from the hospital?

5. 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?

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

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

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

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

10. Why does Tante Zi tell Joseph he could not have escaped himself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Go back to the section in the book in which Danticat recounts Tante Denise's story about the Angel of Death and Father God (143). Write an essay analyzing how the story relates to the Haitian peoples' history of oppression and brutality at the hands of countries like the United States, citing specific examples from the text in your answer.

Essay Topic 2

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 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)

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