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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 manner does Jose describe Yo's body?

2. What is the name of Yo's hippie boyfriend?

3. What is the name of Lou's wife?

4. What is the meaning of the Spanish word "tierra" (245)?

5. In what month does Yo stop teaching a particular character to read when she goes back to the United States?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the ways in which the characters of Yo and Dexter differ.

2. What reason does Tammy pinpoint when wondering what makes her go along with "Yo's schemes" (147)?

3. In what way does the theme of racial prejudice arise within the first conversation between Marie and Yo?

4. What observation of Yo's causes Tammy to burst into tears within the chapter entitled "The Best Friend"?

5. For what reason does Yo come to join Tammy in bed within the chapter entitled "The Best Friend"?

6. From what culture does Tammy hail?

7. Describe Yo's status in the Dominican Republic as an adult.

8. Name three different reasons Jose wants to give his next child to Yo.

9. Discuss a time in the text when Tammy displays the effects of past physical abuse.

10. How does Alvarez depict the effects of the cycle of abuse within the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the reasons why Julia Alvarez's novel Yo! uses many different narrators to relay the events of the narrative. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what is Alvarez's intended effect on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Trace the characterization arc of Yo's character throughout the novel. Discuss whether she is a round or flat character and whether she is a static or dynamic character.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's messages about guilt and responsibility within Julia Alvarez's novel Yo!.

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