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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. In what decade did Maxine's father leave China?

2. Why are the Chinese afraid of drowned ghosts?

3. What does Maxine's aunt do after delivering her baby?

4. When the girl sees visions of people spinning in the fire, what do these people turn into?

5. Which of these Chinese customs does Maxine comment on?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is one thing Moon Orchid notices about Brave Orchid's home that she thinks is strange? Explain why she thinks it is strange.

2. How does Moon Orchid die?

3. How do Moon Orchid and Brave Orchid act when they are reunited for the first time in years?

4. What is the reason the narrator's family tells ghost stories when the laundry gets too hot?

5. Why do you think the author emphasized that all of Brave Orchid's children majored in science and math?

6. What are two of the three Chinese customs the narrator comments on after pondering how her aunt became pregnant?

7. How does Moon Orchid's husband react when he sees her?

8. What bothers the narrator the most about the mentally retarded man who comes and sits in the laundry?

9. What is one secret the narrator learns when she reads her sixth grade school file?

10. How does the narrator feel when she is told not to speak of her aunt?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

This novel has several autobiographical elements, but we never learn if the narrator and the author are the same person.

Part 1) After learning about autobiographies in class, do you view this novel as an autobiography? Explain why or why not using at least three examples from the text to support your position.

Part 2) Do you think the author and the narrator are the same? Explain why or why not.

Essay Topic 2

A large part of the novel describes the narrator's childhood.

Part 1) Explain at least two of the secrets the narrator has to keep during her childhood. How do you think these secrets affected the narrator's personal and social life?

Part 2) Why do you think the Chinese American children are warned about immigration growing up? Explain what fears immigrants had during the time period of the novel's setting, and how these fears relate to the events of the novel as a whole.

Essay Topic 3

Several times throughout the novel, the narrator feels that she is not valued as much as a child born in China. How do these instances affect the narrator's self worth? Describe at least one of these instances, explain the narrator's reaction to it and how it affects her personality using examples from the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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