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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 source does Thi NOT name among her childhood sources of knowledge about America?

2. Bui tells Nguyen that she had gotten good grades and taken what other action in order to get scholarships?

3. Transcripts of whose voices formed the foundation of the memoir's creation?

4. Once all of Thi's family lives in the same state, where does Ma live?

5. What kind of darkness does Thi remember inside her childhood home?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. For what purpose are allusions to heaven and hell included in Chapter 3?

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

4. How does Bui use visual elements to underscore her feelings about the doctor's answer to her question in the hospital?

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

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

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

8. For what purpose does Bui begin Chapter 2: "Rewind, Reverse" in a particular place and then change to a different era on the very next page?

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

10. In what time and place does the opening scene of The Best We Could Do begin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze Bui’s focus on the theme of family bonds in The Best We Could Do. What message is Bui sending about aspects of family such as closeness, loyalty, and a shared sense of identity?

Essay Topic 2

How is the topic of The Other treated within the memoir and what is Bui's purpose for portraying Otherness in this way?

Essay Topic 3

How do the themes of deception and secrecy function within The Best We Could Do and what is Bui’s message regarding these themes?

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