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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. Why do Dorothy and Ming-Chen Wu end up renting a place to live at the Chinatown SRO?

2. What question does Green put to the protagonist?

3. What is the fear that Phoebe hesitates to tell the protagonist?

4. When the protagonist is finally given the role of Kung Fu Guy, how does he react?

5. Why does Older Brother say that the court cannot properly hear this case?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ways does Karen influence the protagonist to develop emotionally?

2. Why does the protagonist react badly both to the news about the baby and the later news about Karen's new show?

3. What does the protagonist see as the benefits and drawbacks of the place where his daughter is growing up?

4. What is the conflict between the protagonist and Karen about how Phoebe is growing up?

5. Explain the literal and nonliteral meanings of the world inside Phoebe's closet.

6. When Ming-Chen tells Dorothy, on page 155, "This is how we met. And fell in love," what is Dorothy's response, and what compromise do they reach?

7. What are the main points that the protagonist makes in his monologue?

8. What thematic purpose does it serve to focus on the attractiveness of the prosecutor and witnesses and to include indicators of sexual tension in the courtroom?

9. How does Yu set the reader up to feel the maximum impact of the revelation of Phoebe's fifth "fear"?

10. What does the protagonist believe he will gain and lose by staying with Phoebe and Karen?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you explore the effect of the second-person narration on the reader's emotional response to the novel. Consider at a minimum the impact on the reader's relationship to characters, the reader's response to plot, and the effectiveness of themes couched in the second person rather than the more traditional first or third person points of view. Be sure to use textual evidence to support your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Write a thesis-driven essay in which you examine the various sources of and beliefs about power and authority in Interior Chinatown. Be sure that your essay recognizes the difference between power and authority and incorporates this distinction into its central argument. Support your claims with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write a thesis-driven essay in which you analyze the function of the focus throughout the text on the relative attractiveness of various characters. Be sure to use textual evidence to support your claims.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,344 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample