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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. During what years was Ho Chi Minh prime minister of Vietnam?

2. How did the narrator's father die?

3. Who greets the narrator and Bon when they arrive in Bangkok in Chapter 17?

4. What do the narrator and his friends drink at the nightclub in Chapter 14?

5. What is the proper response to the coded question "Can you take us to our uncle's funeral" for the ferryman in Chapter 23?

Short Essay Questions

1. What conflict does the narrator recall with the General as he falls asleep in Chapter 17?

2. What effects has the torture had on the narrator in the beginning of Chapter 22?

3. What is revealed about the narrator's father's death in Chapter 22?

4. How is the theme of betrayal explored in Chapter 18?

5. How has the narrative style changed in Chapter 21? Why?

6. Where are the narrator and Bon sent after leaving the prison in the end of the novel?

7. How is Abe's story related in Chapter 13?

8. What symbolism is revealed when Man waves at the narrator at the end of his reeducation?

9. How is the commissar described when the narrator finally meets him in Chapter 19?

10. What is significant about the newspaper article "Move On, War Over"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the methods of torture used on the narrator during "reeducation." What are the effects of these methods? How is the narrator affected both mentally and physically? How is he led to recover?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of betrayal in the novel. What are examples of acts of betrayal committed by the narrator and other characters? How is this theme supported through imagery, symbolism, and setting?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the narrator's revisions on his confession. Why is the commandant insistent that the narrator revise the work? What are his criticisms of the work? How does the narrator appease him?

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