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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 Marek tell Eva's father before his family left Poland?

2. When little Eva worried about her parents fighting, what did her father tell her about their marriage that soothed Eva's worries?

3. Who died in 1956 on a visit to Moscow?

4. In her later life, who did Pani Orlovska write a book about?

5. Where did Eva's mother take her every two weeks when she was a child that Eva described as being like Plato's cave or an Egyptian temple?

Short Essay Questions

1. Compare Krysia's adult life with Eva's. What were the differences? What were the similarities? How did you think they viewed each others lives?

2. What emotion did Eva have when she heard the Polish National Anthem as her ship left for Canada?

3. What was Eva's education like in Poland? Do you think she was getting two different educations? How did the teachers help the students understand what was important?

4. Why did Eva consider the landing of the Batory the end of the narrative of her childhood?

5. What changed in the friendship with Basia after she returned from the camp for young communists?

6. Why was it important for Eva's mother to have a maid? What role did this maid play in her idea of what a homemaker was?

7. For Eva's parents, what extra meaning did her birth have?

8. How did Eva's mother view the idea of being lazy for women?

9. How did Eva feel about national pride?

10. How did Eva gather memories before the family emigrated to Canada?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the author describe words as signals? What kind of signals do words give the author? How does she read the signals? Use 2-3 examples of signals as discussed in the book.

Essay Topic 2

How is language used in Eva's memoir? What is important about the author's first language? What does she miss? What is the author missing with her second language?

Essay Topic 3

What is the final layer of English that Eva must conquer? What is the final key to Eva's understanding of the English language? How does this affect her becoming a full American?

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