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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 saying did the father say about having four girls?

2. What speech was Yolanda asked to deliver at school that her mother helped her with?

3. Why was Yolanda so pleased with the speech she wrote for school?

4. What year did Yolanda meet Rudy?

5. When Yolanda buys a personalized key chain, what name does she pick?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the electric typewriter? What does it mean to Yolanda? To her mother? To her father?

2. Why did Carla want red sneakers? Why was the color so important?

3. When do the daughters return home? Why is it important for the daughters to return without their husbands? What does this say about their father? The girls?

4. What does Yolanda see in her sleep every night? What does this mean? She continues to see the same image after they move to America and as an adult? What does Yolanda think it is?

5. How is Yolanda cured of her mental illness? What brings her back to reality?

6. How does Yolanda lose the drumsticks?

7. How did Yolanda decide to leave John? What did she perceive was happening? What do you think was really happening?

8. How did the girls' mother view finding the marijuana? What does this symbolize for the mother?

9. What insults did John say to Yolanda? Was he teasing, or was he serious? Was the relationship really abusive, or was Yolanda putting her own spin on her memory?

10. Why is Carla embarrassed to tell the police officers what happened to her on her walk home from school?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do all the servants who work for the family have wild backgrounds? Why do some of the servants dabble in voodoo or magic? How does all this relate to Sandi curing one of the servant's children and the sculptor using her face as the face of the Virgin Mary? What does this say about the society at large on the island?

Essay Topic 2

It seems important in the novel for the children to be educated, even if only for a few years, in America. What do you think is the opinion of U.S. colleges as compared to colleges on the island? What is an education in America going to give the children that they will not receive at home? It also seems important to travel to America for those who can afford it. Is it viewed as an important part of the childrens' education to be exposed to America?

Essay Topic 3

What are the three encounters with nudity in the novel? How does each encounter seem to affect the child? Is there long-term damage to the child or is it quickly forgotten? Why do you think so? Since the stories are told through history, how accurate do you think the stories are?

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This section contains 1,072 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample