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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. The novel glosses “waiguo ren” as which of the following?

2. Which of the following does Cheslin take to Caro’s photoshoot at the creek?

3. Which of the following colors does Leigh claim to see in the darkness?

4. Which of the following does Brian give an eight-year-old Leigh as a birthday snack?

5. Which of the following does Axel play?

Short Essay Questions

1. What Ghost Month offerings does Leigh note after she retrieves Feng?

2. What reason does Axel give for saying “you got your suspenders all in a twist” (342-43)?

3. What reasons does Leigh cite for Waigong moving slower than Waipo?

4. What reaction does Leigh expect from Brian to the idea of her submitting a portfolio to an international art competition?

5. What does Leigh note makes her Christmas “almost normal” (193), as opposed to fully normal?

6. What reasons does Yuanyang have for thinking agricultural work easier than schooling?

7. How is the sale of the infant Yuanyang to another family justified?

8. What are the contents of Dorothy’s birthday gift to an eight-year-old Leigh?

9. What reasons does Leigh give for wanting her father to stay away from home?

10. What reasons does Leigh cite for needing to find Feng on the forty-fourth day after Dorothy’s death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the beginning of Chapter 19, Leigh opines on assigning fault for her mother’s suicide, asserting that “It’s only human nature to look for a place to lay the blame” (76). Within the context of the novel, is the assertion correct? How does the novel make it so or not so?

Essay Topic 2

Explicate the irony of Leigh’s rejection of Faulkner in the second sentence of the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Leigh notes that the first time she sees Brian cry since Dorothy’s funeral is in her grandparents’ home (57). What significance does it have that this is the case, and how is that significance put across by the novel and its contexts?

(see the answer keys)

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