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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 excuse did Tiller give his boss in order to get out of his dishwashing job in Chapter 8?

2. How old does Patel say he is in Chapter 8?

3. In Pong's story from Chapter 9, Meng Pei destroyed a replica of what statue?

4. How old is Victor Jr. said to be in Chapter 1?

5. What are the Four Olds, according to Pong's story in Chapter 9?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Tiller tell his father when he prepared to depart for Asia with Pong and his business partner?

2. How does the narrative style of the novel shift in Chapter 9? Why is this significant?

3. What passion did VeeJ adopt in Chapter 5? What led to this newfound hobby?

4. What happened during dinner in Chapter 6?

5. How is the motif of food and ingestion highlighted in Chapter 8?

6. Where and how did Tiller and Val meet?

7. What did Tiller do once he landed in Honolulu in Chapter 11?

8. What recent "good thing" (14) does Tiller describe having done for Val in Chapter 1?

9. How is the setting described in Chapter 1?

10. What is an example of foreshadowing or red herrings in Chapter 7?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the thematic handing of the loss of the mother in My Year Abroad. What characters in the novel have lost their mothers? How has their loss impacted them? How does Tiller come to terms with the loss of his mother in the course of the story?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of mental illness and suicide in My Year Abroad. What characters suffer from mental illness? How does it manifest in their actions and behaviors? What are Tiller's thoughts about mental illness?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of reconciling the past and the present in My Year Abroad. How does the nonlinear structure of the novel lend itself to this theme? How does Tiller develop as a character as he begins to reconcile his past? Where does he stand at the novel's ending in this regard?

(see the answer keys)

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