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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 kind of game is selo?

2. What can Mami not reach in her apartment?

3. What part of Ysrael's body did the pig eat off?

4. What is the name of the narrator's girlfriend?

5. What are the two boys going to the shop to buy for their uncle?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Papi push his way to the shower as soon as he arrives home?

2. What is chapter four about?

3. Why did the narrator and his brother spend their summers with their uncle?

4. How does Rafa beat up Ysrael?

5. What is happening when the narrator returns with the burgers?

6. What happens to Papi when he drinks?

7. How does Rafa treat his brother in the city?

8. How does Mami react when Papi does not come?

9. How does Ysrael try to help the two boys?

10. How did security catch Beto and Yunior shoplifting?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Drown is a collection of short stories. What are the differences between a short story and a novel in terms of the following?

1) Language

2) Character

3) Structure

Essay Topic 2

Write a 500-word essay revolving around one of the following statements.

1) In Drown, Diaz portrays Latino culture in a negative light.

2) The book is about growing up and the final two stories, told from different points of view, shows how far Yunior had come from the early days of drug dealing and stealing.

3) Yunior's stealing and homophobic behavior is the side product of poverty and being an outsider.

Essay Topic 3

Look at the generation gap between younger and the older characters. What different experiences did both generations go through? What problems is the generation gap causing the characters? Is the generational gap expressed in Drown particularly wide during this time or is a wide generational gap common to all ages?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 640 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample