View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When is the second letter to Mrs. Claxton dated?

2. How is the person supposed to wait in "Terpischore: Choral Dance"?

3. What color is the young girl's kerchief in "Polymnia: Sacred Poetry"?

4. In "Thalia: Comedy," what is the purpose of the letter from "a friend"?

5. According to the narrator of "Terpischore: Choral Dance," what once swelled the muscle and the bone?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the parallel between the ritual of becoming a nun and that of becoming a wife.

2. Describe the earth in "Terpischore: Choral Dance."

3. Discuss the passage titled "Memory." Why does it receive a capitalized title?

4. Examine the camera directions which describe the woman's experience in the cinema in "Erato: Love Poetry."

5. Describe the wife's relationship with her husband in "Erato: Love Poetry."

6. Describe the woman's relationship with the person on the telephone in "Thalia: Comedy."

7. Describe the woman's feelings regarding the telephone in "Thalia: Comedy."

8. Discuss the ending of the work. Why does it end with a child looking out a window?

9. What is the significance of the series of concentric circles in "Polymnia: Sacred Poetry"?

10. What does the woman give to the young girl in "Polymnia: Sacred Poetry"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the narrative voice in the book. Who is speaking throughout each section? How do these voices work to form a singular text? Do they present a coherent message or do they contradict one another? How does Cha's manipulation of narrative voice contribute to a work, which unites several women across various generations and cultures?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Cha's use of Greek mythology throughout the work. Why does she incorporate the nine Muses as a structuring element of the work? How does this contribute to the overall message of the work? Why does she select nine female figures? How does her use of the Muses align the work with other classics of Western tradition? Why is this significant?

Essay Topic 3

Explore Cha's commentary on tradition in the work. Tradition is lost, regained, and preserved in the work. How important is tradition to Cha's work? How do the themes of oppression, exile, displacement, and fragmentation affect Cha's vision of tradition? Is her work perhaps an act of preserving tradition in itself? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 896 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample