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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. After the father's death, the mother is in control of the family's finances. She consequently mismanages the money, leaving the family poor. What did the mother buy that resulted in the loss of the family's wealth?
(a) Property.
(b) Clothes.
(c) Furniture.
(d) Jewelry.

2. Chochinchina is today known as what country?
(a) Indonesia.
(b) North Vietnam.
(c) South Vietnam.
(d) China.

3. At what age did the narrator start receiving sexual attention from men?
(a) Twenty.
(b) Fourteen.
(c) Twelve.
(d) Fifteen.

4. What happens to the wives of the colonial potentates as they age in the colony?
(a) They grow closer to their husbands.
(b) They slowly grow mad.
(c) They get wiser with the years.
(d) They tutor the younger women.

5. What does the narrator praise of Hélène Lagonelle's?
(a) Her family's fine home.
(b) Her long, flowing hair.
(c) Her body's sexual virtues.
(d) Her grades.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who asks about the narrator's family's property investments?

2. How does the mother earn money?

3. How old was the narrator when she cut her hair for the first time?

4. Although seemingly impossible, according to society at the time, what could the wives of the colonial potentates have done to keep their husbands from straying?

5. In the novel, who does the mother favor?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the conversation between the mother and the daughter shortly before the family departs for France.

2. How was Dô, the family servant, treated by the family, and how did she react to this treatment?

3. What events transpire on the trip to France aboard the ocean liner? Why are they important?

4. What does the lover fear that the narrator wants from the relationship, and how does the narrator respond?

5. Why does the lover fear the relationship will become public?

6. What are the older brother's actions toward the younger brother and how does the mother respond?

7. What is the relationship between the mother and Dô, and what does it indicate?

8. Briefly describe the life of the narrator around the time she is fifteen.

9. How does the mother feel about the education of her children? How do they act in return?

10. What metaphor is used in sync with the narrator's perfect moment in time, when she is on the ferry where she will meet the lover?

(see the answer keys)

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