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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 does Joan know about the year 2020 in Chinese tradition?

2. What show does Joan refuse to watch with Mark?

3. What does the New York skyline remind Joan of?

4. What does Joan spend more of her time doing in the winter?

5. When is Joan's mother supposed to go back to China?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Joan do when she only has one week of work at the hospital in December?

2. What does Mark say the first time he sees Joan's apartment?

3. What is the hospital director worried about that he confides in Joan about?

4. What is the first thing Joan realizes she cannot get because of supply chain disruptions?

5. What is "chuang" supposed to feel like?

6. What important piece of information does Joan not tell Mark about her recent personal past?

7. How does Mark take the news of the new virus that is circulating?

8. Why does Tami initially come to America?

9. What does the Chinese phrase for "goodbye" really mean?

10. Why does Fang so badly want Joan to move to Greenwich?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Wang describe Joan's changing relationship with her own mother as the novel continues? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What pressures does Joan feel - and from which sources - to have children as she ages? How does she handle these intrusive pressures? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay describing how Wang uses tone and language to establish Joan's character throughout the novel.

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