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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 does Alexandra get specifically for her road trip across the country?

2. What did Alexandra's group of friends from high school call themselves?

3. What does Alexandra write about in Part I?

4. What does Alexandra's mother ask her to do every day after she moves to the other coast?

5. What neighborhood in San Francisco do Alexandra and J live in?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the woman Alexandra works for doing house-organizing tasks tell her that is quite racist?

2. In Part II, what does Alexandra feel is a huge relief?

3. Why does Alexandra think a lot of people buy lottery tickets?

4. Why does Alexandra ask her mother what she thought of Nashville when she arrived there in 1982?

5. Why was the racial makeup that comprises Alexandra's relationship with J - Asian woman and white man - easier to ignore in San Francisco?

6. What kind of advice does Tim give to Alexandra in Part I?

7. What forms the foundation of Alexandra's friendship with Jasmine?

8. What does Tim tell Alexandra about asking to stay to work for the tech publication remotely and asking for a raise at the same time?

9. What does Alexandra ultimately decide about her job when she moves to Ithaca?

10. In Part II, what does Alexandra discover about Kevin that makes her even more dissatisfied with her job?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of the novel, what state is Alexandra's relationship with J in? What has changed between them since Alexandra's trip to China? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Alexandra experiences conflicted feelings about her work at the tech publication in the early stages of this novel. Write an essay exploring Alexandra's feelings about her work in the beginning of the novel, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing why Alexandra gets a cat and a dog after moving to Ithaca and discuss what the pets symbolize to her.

(see the answer keys)

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