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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 is the first thing people blame when the infections began to spread?

2. What is the name of the girl the narrator was interested in?

3. What interest do the narrator and Alex share, which he sense was seen as "a serious mental health disorder" (5)?

4. Who picks the narrator up from the airport when he first arrives in the Dominican for the summer?

5. Which community was impacted by the infection?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some the strange behaviors the infected displayed months after the initial outbreak?

2. How did the narrator react when he first heard of La Negrura? What was he more occupied with at the time?

3. Why did interest in La Negrura wane fairly soon after the initial infection?

4. Why did the narrator's mother initially come back to the Dominican Republic after living in Brooklyn?

5. Why was it easy to blame the heat on the outbreak of La Negrura?

6. Is the narrator being honest when he says his mother did not really want him around her when she was sick? Explain.

7. Who is Alex? How does he know the narrator? In what ways are they different?

8. What did Alex tell his friends when he introduced them to the narrator? How did his friends react when the narrator told them what he was hoping to become?

9. How did the narrator's mother and aunt feel about the situation in Haiti?

10. How did people first react to La Negrura, according to the narrator at the start of the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss elements of the narrative structure: Exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the story's themes?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay exploring the role of mothers in "Monstro." Describe the narrator, Alex, and Mysty's relationship with their mothers and discuss how these relationship develop the plot.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing Diaz's language style and word choice in "Monstro." What are some words that stand out to you and why? What words are repeated? What words are most impactful? Explain your answers.

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This section contains 714 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample