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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the relationship between the two narrators?
(a) Friends.
(b) Brother and sister.
(c) They are lovers.
(d) Father and daughter.

2. Why do the other people on the boat offer to take care of the baby for Celianne?
(a) The baby is in fact dead and is beginning to smell.
(b) There is no baby on the boat.
(c) Celianne needs to rest; she is exhausted from delivering the baby.
(d) The baby will not stop crying in Celianne's arms and is beginning to annoy the rest of the passengers.

3. Why is Celianne's face scarred?
(a) It is a family ritual.
(b) She got in a fight with another passenger.
(c) To disguise her identity.
(d) She was in prison.

4. What does the first narrator say the sea smells like?
(a) Salt.
(b) Death.
(c) Every fish you have ever eaten.
(d) Vomit.

5. What does the male narrator remember about Miami?
(a) There are many opportunities for Haitians in Miami.
(b) The narrator can't remember anything about Miami.
(c) It is sunny and doesn't snow.
(d) They speak Spanish there.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the male narrator's last memory of his mother?

2. Who is the first narrator referring to in this sentence? "She is short and speaks in a singsong that reminds me of the villages of the north."

3. What does the first narrator wish he had with him?

4. Which of these does not appear in the male narrator's dream?

5. Where does the radio pick up a broadcast from?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens after the female narrator thanks her father? What is significant about this?

2. What phrase do both the narrators use to describe their love for one another? How is this significant?

3. What concern does the female narrator's father express for the male narrator? How is this significant?

4. Why does the female narrator's father stay at his brother's house? What character embodies this fear?

5. What happens during the female narrator's trip to Ville Rose?

6. What does the young man on the boat have to prove that he is a political refugee? Why is it necessary to have these things?

7. Think about the two different styles of writing each narrator uses. What does this tell us about them?

8. Think about the male narrator's references to skin color. How does this reflect the social prejudices prevalent in the story?

9. Describe the conditions on the boat.

10. What results is the female narrator waiting to hear on the radio? Why is this important?

(see the answer keys)

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