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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. Kikay Valero is known throughout what location for having a vast pool of acquaintances in the region?

2. Which character nosily asks Helen the exact date of her wedding when Helen announces her recent engagement?

3. What desire does Connie claim to have lost by the time the final scene of Chapter 3: La Vidal rolls around?

4. Which of the following adjectives describes Concha's attitude toward Connie within their shared dream sequence?

5. Pepe tells Connie to rap her knuckles against what object when she is ready for him to enter the room and examine her?

Short Essay Questions

1. How old was Connie's mother Concha when she met the man who would become her first husband and in what era did this event occur?

2. Who warned Father Tony that Connie would be visiting him and why?

3. How does Joaquin bring the two themes of spirituality and physicality together within Chapter 3: La Vidal?

4. What does the ship symbolize within Connie's delusion about a ship?

5. What fault does Father Tony find with Connie's newfound source of peace that stems from knowing she is "absolutely alone" (200)?

6. In Chapter 4: The Chinese Moon, the narrative includes both portrayals of delusion and the use of flashbacks. What sorts of narrative landmarks does Joaquin provide to help direct the reader?

7. What major world event occurred when Connie was 11 years old, necessitating that Biliken be moved to safety?

8. In what way does an element of Chapter 1: Paco connect to an element of Chapter 4: The Chinese Moon?

9. In what way is the theme of family bonds included within the final scene of Chapter 3: La Vidal?

10. What is the implication about Concha's involvement in Minnie's reappearance after Connie threw Minnie into the pond?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Joaquin’s use of the motif of water within the novel The Woman With Two Navels.

Essay Topic 2

Sensory details are used frequently by Joaquin in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of The Woman With Two Navels. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Joaquin’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Joaquin's choice to tell the story of The Woman With Two Navels using a third person omniscient narrator. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Joaquin’s intended effects on the reader?

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