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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do the passengers use to cut Cèlianne's umbilical cord?
(a) A Swiss Army knife.
(b) A paring knife.
(c) A switchblade.
(d) A razor.

2. Why does the male narrator feign nausea?
(a) His nausea is always real.
(b) So he can write undisturbed.
(c) So he doesn't have to help Celianne with the baby.
(d) He does not want to be seen crying.

3. Who is the father of Celianne's baby?
(a) Celianne is not pregnant.
(b) She is not sure; she was raped.
(c) The narrator.
(d) A forbidden lover.

4. What is the difference between day and night in the boat?
(a) All of these.
(b) At night it is cold and the sea and sky are one.
(c) The sun is up during the day; at night the sun sets.
(d) During the day it is hot and sunny, the sea and the sky are separate.

5. Why does the male narrator have to throw out his notebook?
(a) The other passengers think he is writing about them.
(b) They are trying to lighten the boat.
(c) He wants to be one with the sea; the notebook is preventing this.
(d) The pages are all written on and he has no more use for them.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the first narrator write of the sea?

2. Who says, "It is only my misfortune that would lump me together with an indigent like you?"

3. What is odd about Celianne's baby?

4. Who says, "I see you crying like a crushed snail, the way you cried when I helped you pull out your first tooth?"

5. Who said, "Now we will never be mistaken for Cubans?"

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the background between Manman and the narrator's father. How does this mirror his expectations for his daughter?

2. How does the soldiers' visit to Madan Roger's house lead to her death?

3. Describe the relationship between the two narrators.

4. Why is the first narrator happy there are no children on board?

5. What does the female narrator do in a "last resort" way to preserve hope after the black butterflies come? Does it work?

6. Describe the conditions on the boat.

7. Describe the relationship between Manman and the female narrator.

8. What phrase do both the narrators use to describe their love for one another? How is this significant?

9. What happens in the male narrator's dream?

10. What does the young man on the boat have to prove that he is a political refugee? Why is it necessary to have these things?

(see the answer keys)

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