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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 happens if townspeople show signs of deafness?

2. Alfonso says that you can have sex with anyone, but you cannot do what with just anyone?

3. What does the sign say that is hanging around Sonya’s neck?

4. Alfonso says he does not know much more about Sonya than the freckles on her shoulders. How does this make him feel?

5. As Petya’s body lies on the asphalt, what does Alfonso wonder?

Short Essay Questions

1. What takes place in “Soldiers Aim at Us?”

2. In “Checkpoints” what do the soldiers set up around town and why?

3. What does “Gunshot” say about the country of the characters in this story?

4. In “Alfonso, in Snow,” what does the speaker say about himself?

5. Why are puppets hung outside the homes of some of the townspeople?

6. In “The Townspeople Circle the Boy’s Body,” what do the townspeople do to protect Petya’s body?

7. What does Alfonso say about his and his wife’s bathing ritual?

8. In “4 a.m. Bombardment,” what is Alfonso doing?

9. What does the speaker say in “A Cigarette” about the townspeople?

10. In “The Map of Bones and Open Valves,” what do Sonya and Alfonso sneak through the city doing? How do they feel about this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The story begins with Anushka as an unborn child and ends with her as a toddler. How does Anushka give the story a timeline and reveal to the readers the short amount of time in which the story takes place? Why might the poet have chosen to do this? How do these details affect the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Alfonso says he wife was a door-slammer and he a fool. What does he mean by this? Would you agree that he is foolish? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Momma Galya is poorly treated at the end of her life and even in death. How is she poorly treated? Why is she treated this way? What does this say about her community? In what other ways are others in this story abused, mistreated, and forgotten? How does this relate to current events in the U.S.?

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