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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 is this story about?

2. Why did Jean Marais come to the island?

3. What does Minke ask Nyai about at the end of Chapter 4?

4. What does Nyai request in the letter she sends to Minke?

5. Who is the narrator of the book?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is colonization and how does it effect this story?

2. What does the term "historical fiction" mean?

3. Who does Minke speak to at the start of Chapter 6 and how does the conversation go?

4. How did the narrator write his story? What technique did he use?

5. What does Nyai show Minke in Chapter 6 and what is she suspicious about?

6. What does the conversation with Nyai in Chapter 6 reveal about Minke's education?

7. Who says in Chapter 3, "love is beautiful, Minke, very, very beautiful, but perhaps disaster follows. You must dare to face its consequences", and what does this quote mean in the context of the story?

8. How is foreshadowing used in Chapter 4?

9. Describe Jean Marais' painting and what he thinks it means.

10. Who says "I don't yet really need to reveal who I am before the eyes of others" and what does it mean?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role does colonization play in Toer's story? Choose two characters and explain their opinion of colonization and how it influences their lives.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the relationship between Minke and Nyai. What role does each person fill in the other person's life? Explain two ways that Nyai helps Minke and vice versa.

Essay Topic 3

What impact did Magda have on Minke's life? What suggestion did his teacher have that resulted in notoriety for Minke?

(see the answer keys)

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