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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 is the name of the Tonton Macoute who begins speaking to Brown?

2. What does Mr. Smith carry around for his wife?

3. In Part 1, Chapter 4, the charge explains what happened to his cook one night when he was supposed to be throwing a party. What happened?

4. As the hearse is stranded in the road, what does Madame Philipot promise to buy for her son?

5. What moment, as Brown remembers the past, makes him feel that his business was finally a success?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the purpose of the night of entertainment aboard the ship, in Part 1, Chapter 1?

2. From the conversation with his mother, what does Brown learn about his father? How is this knowledge in keeping with the family dynamic?

3. Brown spends approximately one day in the Dominican Republic as he tries to get money and an exit visa. How does this country differ from Haiti? What changes does Brown note in the people, attitudes, buildings, and scenery?

4. At the end of the book, Jones is given a military funeral with the rest of the guerrilla fighters who were killed. Is this honorable or simply ironic? How does it fit Jones's life?

5. In his mother's desk, Brown finds a disk which Doctor Magiot recognizes as a medal of the resistance. What does this reveal about his mother?

6. After Philipot's body is removed from the pool, Joseph cleans the pool so Mr. Smith can swim. Mr. Smith passes very close to where the body had crouched, and Brown cringes to think of the two scenarios. How is this, in a succinct fashion, an indication of the story?

7. Petit Pierre is introduced at the beginning of Part 1, Chapter 2. What purpose does his character play? How is he similar to Brown?

8. From a literary aspect, what is the effect of portraying Jones as an actor who has not learned his lines well? Why does the author use this characterization throughout the book?

9. Doctor Magiot's funeral oration for Philipot consists mostly of the consolation that he died a natural death, which is to say he was not murdered. Considering the political environment, is this a compliment? What about the dead man's sense of mathematics?

10. In Part 1, Chapter 5, Brown notes that he cannot remember Martha's voice, though he can picture her handwriting. What clue does this give the reader about their relationship?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the use of light as a literary device. How many scenes occur in the dusk or dark? How much of Brown's life specifically occurs at these times? What does this say about him? Why might the author choose to place him in the darkness? How does this set the tone of the book?

Essay Topic 2

Examine Brown from a literary standpoint. As the narrator of the story, is he reliable? What advantages are there in telling the story from his standpoint? Is he able to provide an advantage which an omniscient narrator might not? How does his viewpoint color the entire story?

Essay Topic 3

Jones claims that there is no place for him outside Haiti. How is this statement also true of Brown? What characteristics does Brown possess that enable him to maneuver the intricacies of Haitian politics? It may be helpful to contrast him to Mr. Smith, who has no understanding of the workings of Haitian government and life.

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