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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. Besides Jose's wife and children, which other member of the family lives in Jose's house?

2. What adjective does Yo use to describe the nature of stories to Lou?

3. Who ends up hiring Jose as a night watchman?

4. To whom does Penny introduce Lou at a party within the chapter entitled "The Student"?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. From what culture does Tammy hail?

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

3. Discuss Dexter's metaphor of the caged "bright bird" (204).

4. In what type of group do Yo and Tammy meet?

5. For how many weeks has Clair been away at the time Yo comes to live as a tenant in Marie and Clair's home?

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

7. How does irony arise within Tammy's comments about Yo's lack of romantic interest in men?

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

9. In what way does Alvarez set up the United States and the Dominican Republic as foil settings?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sensory details are used frequently by the author in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Alvarez’s purpose of creating vivid characters.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

How do the themes of deception and honesty function within the novel, and what is Alvarez's message regarding these themes?

(see the answer keys)

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