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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 Estelle's surname?

2. What two cities is the play's setting located between?

3. What does the priest not want to happen to Rosario's body?

4. What are people in New Orleans dropping out of windows?

5. How did Rosario die?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Rosa say her mother is moaning?

2. Describe the play's setting.

3. Why is Rosa so sad?

4. What sound comes from the back of the cottage?

5. How does Serafina arrange for Alvaro to sleep at her house without the neighbors knowing?

6. Why can Rosa still graduate despite the fact she had not attended any exams?

7. Describe Serafina's appearance in this scene.

8. How do the women react to Estelle's appearance?

9. Why does Father de Leo say he could not come earlier?

10. How did Rosario die?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why is the community so important? How can the community can help Serafina recover from her husband's death? Could Serafina recover from her husband's death if she did not have so many friends around her?

Essay Topic 2

Look at the structure of the play.

1. How does the author use character and dialogue to drive the narrative?

2. 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 play's themes?

Essay Topic 3

Identify the main themes of the story. In what way are these themes relevant to the time period? How does the author use character and setting to express these themes?

(see the answer keys)

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