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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 title does Esmeralda's teacher in El Mangle refuse to respond to?

2. How many rooms does the family move into in "Letters from New York"?

3. To what does Esmeralda compare her developing breasts?

4. What does Esmeralda do to make life in El Mangle more pleasant?

5. What does Tata's breath smell like?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has Mami's new appearance changed the way she interacts with people in Puerto Rico?

2. How does Esmeralda feel as Nicasia leads her through the process of blessing the dead baby?

3. Describe Dona Andrea.

4. Discuss the differences between Angie and Gladys.

5. Why does Mami begin sending the children to Sunday school?

6. How does the vision of romance which Esmeralda receives from soap operas compare with the relationship model she receives from her parents?

7. Discuss the letter that Esmeralda writes to her father and the family's reaction to it.

8. Discuss the difference in Gladys' and Esmeralda's reactions to the task of peeling potatoes.

9. Why does Esmeralda say that it is impossible to escape the stench when her family lives in El Mangle?

10. Why does Esmeralda scream at Don Luis during her piano lessons?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore the role of violence in the memoir. How does Santiago portray violence between her parents? Between children? Based on Santiago's memoir, how is violence treated in Puerto Rican culture?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Santiago's treatment of her bilingual experience throughout the memoir. Discuss, for example, the way she transcribes her Puerto Rican accent in dialogue, the way she handles Spanish words in the text, and the glossary of Puerto Rican and Spanish words in the back of the book. What issues arise surrounding the treatment of English, Spanish, and "Spanglish" in the book?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the way Santiago portrays the Puerto Rican culture in the United States. How, according to the book, do Puerto Ricans adapt to living in New York? How do their lives change? What remains the same? How does Santiago seem to feel about these changes? How does Santiago act as a detached observer of the Puerto Rican community in Brooklyn?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 830 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample