View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Thi includes a portrait of her mother that Thi had drawn at what age?

2. In what year does Ma say she was born?

3. The Bui family's "neighborhood monitor" (221) is also referred to by what term?

4. Thi compares her excitement upon arriving in what city for the first time to Bo's excitement when he first arrived in Saigon?

5. Bo tells Thi that when he was what age, his grandfather had enrolled Bo in a French school?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Bo's father visits Bo for the first time in 20 years?

2. Whom does Thi name as being a difficult person for her to write about?

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

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

5. What action does Bui depict in order to symbolize Ma's dedication to her children?

6. What is the meaning of the term "nguy" (221)?

7. What new law is one that Ma is unwilling to follow?

8. What do the glamourous photographs of Ma symbolize to Thi after she becomes an adult?

9. What occurs on April 30, 1975?

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

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

Discuss how and why Bui instills three different humanist messages into the narrative of The Best We Could Do.

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 711 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample