View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is the room Esmeralda receives in "Dreams of a Better Life"?

2. What do the boys do in the streets near Esmeralda's home in "Casi Senorita"?

3. What game do the children play in the house to make Titi Avena miserable?

4. When she first arrived in El Mangle, why wouldn't Esmeralda drink water?

5. How is Uncle Chico different from Tata and Don Julio?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Francisco's family react to the news that he has cancer?

2. How has Mami's appearance changed after her return from New York?

3. What happens when Don Joaquin calls on sinners to cast off evil?

4. Discuss the interactions between Esmeralda's family and the taxi driver in "Angels on the Ceiling".

5. Describe Dona Andrea.

6. How does Esmeralda cope with the embarrassment of being singled out for her sub-standard math skills in front of the class?

7. How does Esmeralda describe the stewardesses at the beginning of "Angels on the Ceiling"?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A recent phenomenon in immigrant cultures is the move toward forming a more transnational identity--a notion of self which lies at the intersection between two cultures instead of squarely in one or the other. In your opinion, does Esmeralda form a distinctly Puerto Rican identity, a distinctly U.S. American identity, a transnational identity, or perhaps all three at different points of her life? If she identifies with one over the others, how does she demonstrate affinity for this identity? If she does not, how does she demonstrate a fluid notion of nationality? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Santiago's presentation of family in the memoir. How does she treat her own family in writing this book? Does the family provide a healthy living environment? Is her family a traditional Puerto Rican family? If not traditional, is it in any way typical of a particular socio-economic, regional, or cultural group within the nation?

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 939 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample