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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. Who has the worst hair of Aldrich's family?

2. Where is Ehrlich spending the spring in "Spring"?

3. What feeling does Frazier seem to take about society's lack of idleness in "A Lovely Sort of Lower Purpose"?

4. What was McPhee fascinated by as a child?

5. What does Tan realize after becoming a renowned writer in "Mother Tongue"?

Short Essay Questions

1. If you were Cofer, would you want to have the comfort of having a small neighborhood full of people from your native country?

2. Do you find truth with McClanahan's essay of the woman writing in the margin and their mutual emotions?

3. Why do people discriminate against Tan's mother in "Mother Tongue"?

4. In "The Blue Machinery," why does Komunyakaa not tell his co-workers that he is going to graduate school in the fall?

5. What does Fadiman say about email in the essay "Mail"?

6. How does Tan learn English in "Mother Tongue"?

7. In "The Turning Point," describe Petit's desire to make tight roping an art form.

8. In "Mirrorings," why does Grealy realize she has had anxiety over her disfigurement?

9. Describe what Frazier did with his friends as a child in the essay, "A Lovely Sort of Lower Purpose."

10. How is the style of historical references to time related to the closeness of Accawi's village?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the antagonist of "A Lovely Sort of Lower Purpose" by Ian Frazier.

Essay Topic 2

In the essay, "They All Just Went Away" how is an abandoned house like a decaying corpse?

Essay Topic 3

Considering "The Telephone" and "Mail," compare and contrast the benefits of life without the invention of both the telephone and e-mail. How do you think our society would be different without technological advances like cell phones or e-mail?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 591 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample