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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 did Mai’s brother, Loc, ask Mai if he could use while she was away in Rach Gia?

2. In what year did a bomb destroy the apartment building in which Parvin's best friend lived?

3. Who does the man who approaches Sarah at the airport at the start of “Tehran Calling” tell her he is?

4. Who is Sarah sitting on a hotel bed with at the end of “Tehran Calling”?

5. What did Mai sell in order to support her family?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mayako decide she will do at the end of “Hiroshima” and what does she say?

2. What are some of the first images Sarah sees in the terminal at the start of “Tehran Calling”?

3. How crowded is the boat as described on p. 247 of “The Boat”?

4. What does Quyen tell Mai she was going to ask Mai to do when they arrive on land to give her time to tell her husband about Truong?

5. What is going on the week Sarah arrived in Iran, which Mahmoud tells her is their holiest week?

6. What does Mai notice is unusual about Quyen and Truong’s relationship on the boat?

7. What does Mayako tell Mrs. Tamura after her parents visit her at the temple on Visiting Day?

8. Who is the main character of “Tehran Calling” and where is she in the first lines of the story?

9. Who is Anh Phuoc and what does he do on the boat?

10. What happens to Mai’s father five years after coming home from fighting the Communists?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose two stories from The Boat that have common themes. Write an essay comparing and contrasting how these themes are developed in each story. Use direct examples from each stories to support your analysis.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing Nam Le’s use of flashbacks at least two of his short stories. Discuss how these flashback’s impact the reader’s experience and whether you think they are effective. Be sure to include direct examples from the text to support your argument.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the imagery use is “Tehran Calling.” Be sure to include how the imagery discussed represents the themes of the story.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 678 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample