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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 man does Paul quote when talking to Truong toc?

2. What has disappeared for Christopher?

3. What language does Christopher speak impeccably?

4. Who is Klimenko?

5. What changes the young woman's rudeness to Paul at a garden door?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do David and Paul talk about when they meet at the Statler Hotel?

2. What is the Truong toc and which Truong toc does Paul talk with and what transpires?

3. What does Foley really believe about Paul's theory about the connection between the JFK assassination and the Ngo family?

4. Describe the dinner conversation between Kim and Paul.

5. Whose corpse does Paul go to see and what is he told there?

6. What does David Patchen think about Foley?

7. What does Paul learn when he visits Wolkowicz' compound?

8. Why does Luong face death?

9. Describe Paul's case worker, Tom Webster.

10. What is the key phrase that Kim speaks that makes Paul realize who may be responsible for JFK's death and what does Paul do after the realization?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 1, when the group that includes Foley and Peggy McKinney learn of the deaths of the Ngo brothers, Peggy tries to lead a college cheer over their deaths. No one will join in, and Sybille Webster weeps over all of the corpses that politics creates. Undeterred, Peggy McKinney insists on a difference between petty Asiatic dictators and presidents of the greatest nation on earth. Discuss the following:

1. Sybille Webster might be considered the "conscience" of the novel. How do you think she serves as a moral barometer? Give specific examples. How do you think she lives with the fact that her husband is part of an organization that will do many illegal and immoral acts to promote a political goal?

2. Debate Peggy McKinney's belief that there is a difference between petty Asiatic dictators and presidents of the greatest nation on earth.

3. Do politics create corpses or do humans create corpses? Is there a difference? Discuss fully.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Compare/contrast Paul and David. How are they alike? How are they different? Do they have the same ideals? Goals? Does David support Paul because of their friendship or because he believes in what Paul is doing? Use examples to illustrate your ideas.

2. Compare/contrast Molly with Paul's ex-wife? How are they alike? How are they different? Which seems more likable? Do you think Paul's ex-wife deserves the most blame for the end of the marriage? Explain. Does Molly deserve the most credit for the success of the relationship between her and Paul? Explain.

3. Trace and analyze two of the following characters: Frankie Pigeon, Manual Ruiz, Nsango and Wolkowicz. Decide if each is a protagonist or antagonist. Is each crucial to the story? How would the story change if that character does not exist? Is the character likable? Why or why not? Moral? Memorable? Round or Flat?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 6, when Paul mentions that the two presidents (Kennedy and Ngo Diem) die within 21 days of one another, the Truong toc doubts the sorrows are similar. Americans live in another world. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think the Truong toc means when he says Americans live in a different world? How are the two countries different politically as revealed in the text? Explain fully with examples from the text and your own experience.

2. Do you think Americans are more or less likely to grieve for a fallen leader than those in a small Indonesian country such as Vietnam? Explain fully with examples from the text and your own experience.

3. Does the Turong toc seem condescending to Paul? Why or why not? Discuss fully with examples from the text.

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