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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. What type of automobile does the lover ride in?
(a) A taxi.
(b) A black limousine.
(c) A bus.
(d) A luxury sedan.

2. At what age does the narrator leave Chochinchina for Paris?
(a) Eighteen.
(b) Seventeen.
(c) Nineteen.
(d) Twenty.

3. About how old is the narrator when she last sees the property?
(a) Thirteen.
(b) Fifteen.
(c) Seventeen.
(d) Eighteen.

4. Where did the narrator find her hat?
(a) Her friend's suitcase.
(b) A second-hand store.
(c) A boutique.
(d) Her mother's closet.

5. After they return to France, who lives with the mother?
(a) Dô.
(b) The narrator.
(c) The older brother.
(d) The younger brother.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. What helps to awaken the narrator's sexuality?

3. In the novel, the mother is very concerned with the studies of her children and even attempts to plan the narrator's future. What does the mother decide that she wants the narrator to be?

4. Who is a competent tailor?

5. How does the narrator think the younger brother died?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the older brother's behavior toward the lover.

2. Since the family's wealth is tied up in the land investments, how does the mother provide income for the family? How does the income benefit the family?

3. What is the narrator's relationship with her family later in life?

4. During the height of the relationship, the narrator becomes increasingly fixed on her friend, Helene Lagonelle. What does the narrator express desire to do concerning Helene Lagonelle?

5. Describe what would happen to the wives of the colonial potentates and the law of error.

6. Describe how the mother knew the father was going to die before receiving news of his death.

7. How does the narration of events work in this novel? Is the way that narrator chooses to tell the story confusing or compelling?

8. How was the narrator able to understand colonial life at such an early age?

9. The lover makes a comment about the narrator's method of transportation. What is it...why is it strange... and what does it indicate?

10. Why does the mother choose to voice her opinion to the narrator right before leaving for France?

(see the answer keys)

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