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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 Bui seeking when she meets with Viet Thanh Nguyen?

2. Bui states in the Preface that she helped to open what sort of high school?

3. Viet Thanh Nguyen describes Vietnamese refugees in what California city in the 1980s?

4. Chapter 1, entitled "Labor," takes place in what location?

5. What happened during the very last time Bo ever saw his mother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What dangerous action does Bo take regularly throughout Thi's childhood?

2. Describe two different methods Thi uses to address her problems with Bo.

3. What sort of tone does Bui use to describe Bo's parenting style?

4. How does the doctor respond to Thi's question about her child's birth?

5. What behavior of Ma's disappoints Thi in the memoir's opening scene?

6. What lesson does Thi learn through undertaking a major change in 2006?

7. What event causes a very young Bo to mentally disown his father?

8. Thi likens the way she feels at the sight of the surgical instruments to what scene from her childhood?

9. What question does Thi ask the doctor when she is in labor with her child?

10. Describe Thi's expression in the panel depicting her reaction to Bo's dangerous behavior.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Bui’s memoir The Best We Could Do. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the memoir.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Bui’s messages about guilt and responsibility within The Best We Could Do.

Essay Topic 3

Write a critical essay about The Best We Could Do while using the critical power theory lens of feminist theory. Use textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the memoir's treatment of gender roles, the objectification of women, female empowerment, misogyny's role within society, or any other issues related to feminist theory that can be found in the memoir.

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