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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 did Yolanda think about the speech her mother wrote for her school program?

2. What do the candles on the cake represent?

3. What nicknames does the grandfather give to the baby?

4. Which sister has a baby?

5. What is the shape of the cake at the beginning of the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Carla view the celebration dinner for the family's first American year? Why do the parents view it differently from the kids? What is this telling the reader?

2. Why does Sofia give her father the wet kiss in his ear? What is she trying to prove to her father? Why does this anger her father?

3. What is significant about the rift between Sofia and her father? What does this say about his attitudes in their new country?

4. When Rudy and Yolanda meet years later, how is Yolanda different? Is she different? Is her reaction to Rudy different from when she was young? Why?

5. How were the mother's inventions an important part of her American life? What did this say about her ambitions for herself?

6. What is Rudy trying to teach Yolanda with his sonnets? Why does he choose this approach?

7. When Sandi shows artistic talent, the maid, Milagros, takes Sandi to her sick son and they both believe Sandi cures the boy. How does this tie into the image of Sandi's face as the Virgin Mary? For what art has Sandi suffered?

8. Why will Yolanda's mother not let her bang the drum? Why would she allow such a toy and then put limits on it? Does this confuse Yolanda? Why?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The family seems so normal back on the island, only the servants are crazy, but, after the move, the girls and the mother all have issues dealing with life. Do you think it has anything to do with money? They were rich on the island, but life is more up-close in America and they struggle keeping a grip on reality. What do you think? Why?

Essay Topic 2

What is symbolic about the toys that grandmother returns with from New York? Why does she always bring gifts? Do you think she feels guilty about the children being born into a family that is in danger? Explain your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Once the family moves to America, what kind of life do the parents dream of for their daughters? With that in mind, why do they want to return the girls to the island every summer to find husbands? Doesn't that line of thinking contradict why they moved to the U.S. in the first place? What do the parents really want for their daughters?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,203 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample