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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. As national chess champion, Waverly is touted as __________________________.
(a) The Great American Hope
(b) The funeral parlor's mascot
(c) Bobby Fischer's best friend
(d) A poor child from Chinatown

2. The child in this parable is __________________.
(a) Seven-years-old
(b) A ten-year-old girl
(c) A seven-year-old boy
(d) A teenager

3. Auntie had a tongue "like hungry scissors _________________________.
(a) cutting a colorless winter melon."
(b) eating silk cloth."
(c) cutting my confidence."
(d) tearing at the heart."

4. Which kind of daughter did Jing-mei's mother want?
(a) Rebellious
(b) Focused
(c) Obedient
(d) Free spirited

5. "Popo" is An-Mei's ________________________.
(a) Maternal grandmother
(b) Governess
(c) Auntie
(d) Best friend

Short Answer Questions

1. Rose realizes that fate is shaped half by expectation, and _________________________.

2. Suyuan Woo hoped her daughter _________________________________.

3. The woman's feels her daughter __________________.

4. The old woman who buys a swan eventually _____________________________.

5. An-Mei's mother is considered a "ghost" because _________________________________.

Short Essay Questions

1. Since the little girl is too young to be told about them all, discuss what some of the twenty-six malignant gates might be.

2. Discuss the unusual circumstances under which Lena lives.

3. This parable is loaded with symbolism. Since the old woman paid a "foolish sum" for the swan, and then loses it, what might this symbolize?

4. The imagery of the woman fluttering her arms when the swan is taken from her is sad. What does it imply?

5. How could a woman with twin babies leave them at the side of the road?

6. Does the little girl fall from the bicycle because her mother is right, or because she is afraid her mother is right, or is it just a chance circumstance?

7. Why might it be that Jing-Mei continues to be a failure?

8. The parable is obviously based on a current-day story in which one of the mothers in the book tries to warn her daughter of her superstitions. Discuss other instances in the book up until this point where mothers feel they know so much more than their daughters.

9. Jing-Mei Woo's mother and Waverly Jong's mother compete through their daughters' failures and successes. Are the two women friends?

10. Jing-Mei Woo's mother has great expectations of her daughter. Why is she like this?

(see the answer keys)

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