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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. What animal does the boy hope will appear in the photograph he takes at the Baltimore aquarium?
(a) A fish.
(b) A starfish.
(c) A turtle.
(d) An octopus.

2. From what state does the family at the center of the narrative depart at the beginning of the novel?
(a) New Mexico.
(b) California.
(c) New York.
(d) Puebla.

3. In answer to the boy's query, the woman says that "documenting just means to collect the present for" (102) what?
(a) Later generations.
(b) Posterity.
(c) The pleasure of organization.
(d) The future.

4. Whenever the woman turns on the radio in the family car, the first line of what novel is heard before anything else?
(a) Lord of the Flies.
(b) The Road.
(c) The Bean Trees.
(d) A Clockwork Orange.

5. What term does a customer at the Dixie Cafe use to refer to the family at the center of the narrative?
(a) Brown.
(b) Migrants.
(c) Foreigners.
(d) Mexicans.

Short Answer Questions

1. The woman compares a documentarian to what other career position?

2. Manuela reports to the woman that her two daughters have disappeared somewhere between two detention centers in what states?

3. The child refugee's radio interview reveals that which of his family members had died along the journey to the United States?

4. When the man and woman first got together, they had seized upon what form as a manifesto for their relationship?

5. The vigil described by the woman had involved the attendees placing their hands on what object as they say the names of missing family members?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way does Luiselli use the traditional notion of the American Dream to comment on the reasons refugees from the Northern Triangle leave their homes?

2. How does the man reply when the boy asks him why he has chosen the Apache tribe as the subject of his newest project?

3. Describe how Luiselli uses the theme of appearance versus reality to characterize the notion of romantic partnership.

4. When the woman is conflicted about whether to record the sounds of the family's road trip, what does she say she wishes she could do instead?

5. What quality does the woman say is difficult to maintain within a marriage in a "real and sustained" (82) manner?

6. Compare and contrast the woman's response to the boy's angry outbursts with the man's reaction.

7. Describe an instance when the girl's vivacious personality influences the rest of the family's behavior.

8. How does the woman define documentation for the boy?

9. What warrior name does each member of the family take on and who begins the process?

10. Discuss one of the quotes Luiselli uses as an epigraph within Part I: Soundscapes and how its themes are reflected within the first few passages of the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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