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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. At the beginning of Chapter 1, what does Ethan say his father often complained about?

2. What decade is it when Ethan reflects on his childhood?

3. When does Ethan tell his family that his new love interest is a man?

4. What is one way that helped Joe's mother learn English?

5. When Maribel first flirts with Schuyler, what does she ask him about Brits?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Jack described by Joe in Chapter 2? Why does Nok worry about him when he is a teenager?

2. What does Maribel say about Schuyler's mind in Chapter 3? What does she say about her own self in comparison to him?

3. Describe Ethan's childhood. How does he feel about his father traveling often to Asia for work?

4. Why does Schuyler's brother, Tad, phone Maribel after Schuyler's death?

5. What originally happens to Schuyler's money after he is killed?

6. How do Maribel and Schuyler first meet each other?

7. How does the structure of the novel help readers understand the secrets to happiness?

8. How does Ethan react to his father's secret?

9. What is the narrative structure throughout the novel?

10. When Jake and June visit Joe and Nok, and they are about to eat the orchid cake made by Veronica, what task do they do in order to cut the cake?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay defining and analyzing the connections between money and power throughout the novel. How does Gil's relationship with money equate to unyielding power? Which other characters in the novel use money as a form of power and how do they wield it?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing Joe's mother's idea of happiness. How did she imagine her sons to be the happiest?

Essay Topic 3

Growing up, Ethan's father often traveled to Thailand, and many other Asian countries, for work. Travel is a prominent theme throughout the novel. Select 2-3 characters from the novel and explain how travel affected their relationships with themselves, family members, and romantic partners.

(see the answer keys)

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