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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. How many months' pregnant was Ma when she and Bo planned their escape?

2. When Bo again lived with his grandmother and grandfather at the age of 14, of what material was their roof made?

3. How old was Bo when he went to see his father in the North?

4. How old is the only child of Bo and Ma when people start to say that Saigon will "become a sea of blood" (214)?

5. Bo explains that "Saigon had its own" what called "the Binh Xuyen" (176)?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what year does Bo arrive in Saigon for the first time and to which of Thi's own experiences does she visually compare the moment in Bo's life?

2. For what specific purpose does Bui depict Ma's dedication to her children?

3. What objects do the Communists consider to be "capitalist filth" (220)?

4. How does Bui elicit pathos within Chapter 7, entitled "Heroes and Losers"?

5. What do the glamorous photographs of Ma symbolize to Thi during her childhood?

6. What objects must the Bui family burn when the Communists begin to search the people's homes?

7. How do the policies of the Communist party affect the Bui family?

8. What two poses does Thi use to depict her childhood sketches of Ma?

9. How is the motherhood archetype portrayed within Chapter 7, entitled "Heroes and Losers"?

10. Who was Truong Chinh and whom did he emulate?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Look carefully at the passages of The Best We Could Do that describe the ways in which Ma's parenting styles changed with each successive child. What is Bui's purpose for revisiting this topic again and again?

Essay Topic 3

What message does Bui send within the pages of The Best We Could Do concerning the link between communication and emotional closeness?

(see the answer keys)

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