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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. In which of the following periods does Leigh have art class during her sophomore year?

2. The comment that “The sun is a fat coin embedded in the wide blue sky” (204) offers an example of which of the following?

3. Which of the following does Brian give Leigh for Christmas?

4. Which of the following do the girls wear in the picture Leigh finds among the old cardboard boxes?

5. Leigh glosses “ni kan” as which of the following in the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Leigh apologize to Feng?

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

3. What challenges does Leigh note in reading the letter to her mother she opened?

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

5. What story do Axel and Leanne tell about jazz band?

6. What reasons does Axel give for having broken up with Leanne in the winter of Leigh’s freshman year?

7. What Halloween decorations does Leigh note in the fall of her sophomore year?

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

9. How is Jingling described to Leigh when she asks Waipo about her?

10. What reasons does Leigh cite in the summer before her sophomore year for going out with Axel and Caro?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the epigraph from Emily Dickinson: “If I should see a single bird.” Typically, epigraphs suggest one or more of the themes of the works they introduce. Does the epigraph on The Astonishing Color of After effectively suggest one or more of the novel’s themes? If so, how? If not, what purpose does the epigraph serve, and how does it achieve it?

Essay Topic 2

Leigh notes that “Some terrible requirement of being a teenager is being absolutely awful when your parents are being lovely” (299). Is her assertion correct? What in the novel and in experience suggests that it is or is not, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

Leigh muses that “You can tell when people are falling in love. So there must be a way to see if people are falling out of love, right?” (217) after Dorothy calls 911 on herself. Is there such an indicator as Leigh suggests? What in the novel shows that there is or is not such an indicator, and how does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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