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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 "immense" (22) emotion does Bui feel after giving birth to her son?

2. What two armies forced the Vietnamese people to uproot their rice in order to plant jute?

3. Throughout the memoir, Bo's grandfather is referred to as what type of gentleman?

4. How old was Thi when her parents separated?

5. Thi states that her "memories of [Bo] live in" (64) what kind of dwelling?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What event within her adolescence does Thi describe as "living the dream" "for an immigrant kid" (24)?

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

4. For what reason is Bo unable to teach in the United States, though he had taught in Vietnam?

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

6. What is the strongest emotion Thi feels toward Bo toward the end of her adolescence?

7. How does Bui incorporate foreshadowing in her creation of The Best We Could Do?

8. As a young child, Thi imagines the lights of the cars on the highway as what other objects?

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

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

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

Sensory details are used frequently by Bui in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of The Best We Could Do. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Bui’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

Essay Topic 3

How is the role of motherhood treated within The Best We Could Do and how does its treatment relate to the memoir's depicted messages?

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