Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. In "Occupied," what is implied in Minot's description of the man who "did not look American" (35)?
2. In "Occupied," when Ivy sees the labeled boxes of books, what book category does she wonder if she will ever see?
3. In "Polepole," what is Daisy's job?
4. In "Polepole," what does his servant's wife call "the man"?
5. On page 60 of "Green Glass," what is Tom's assessment of the lawyer that Fran used to date?
Short Essay Questions
1. In "Occupied," how does Ivy feel about her friends' advice about Dexter?
2. In "Polepole," what is Daisy's response to finding out that "the man" has a wife?
3. In "Polepole," what difference is there between the way Daisy and "the man" view Kibera?
4. In "Occupied," where does Ivy stop on the way home from work, and why does she stop there?
5. On page 55 of "Green Glass," what does Fran mean when she says, "Men like to think women aren't sensitive, at convenient times"?
6. In "Occupied," what is implied by the repeated descriptions of the wind?
7. Describe the setting and context of "Polepole."
8. In "Polepole," after the man tells Daisy that he "needs" to kiss her, she "felt the outline of herself begin to dissolve" (5). Why does the man have this effect on Daisy?
9. In "Polepole," Daisy's comment of "I don't even know where I am" (3) has both a literal and a figurative meaning. Explain why this is so.
10. In "Green Glass," how does Tom react when he realizes that Fran was once romantically involved with the lawyer at the party?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Write an essay in which you consider the symbolic significance of the title "Occupied." Discuss both the characteristics of this movement as revealed in the story and the relationship of that movement to Ivy's life and psychology. Use evidence from the text to support your claims.
Essay Topic 2
Some critics point out that Minot's writing appears to come from a place of privilege that marginalizes characters and concerns from outside of white, hetero-normative, middle- and upper-class society. Write an essay that responds in some way to this concern. You may affirm the idea, refute it, or qualify it. Support your ideas with textual evidence; if you use outside sources, cite them in MLA format.
Essay Topic 3
The significance of borders is always in question in Why I Don't Write: characters feel themselves dissolving or dissociate from their bodies, people struggle to keep the past from intruding on the present, and the boundaries between cultures and the living and the dead are not as clear-cut as we might ordinarily think them to be. Write an essay that takes and defends a position about borders in Minot's collection. Use evidence from at least three stories to support your claims.
|
This section contains 1,032 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
