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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. Celianne gives birth to:

2. What does the first narrator say is the predominant religion of the others on board?

3. What was the name given to the Radio group the male narrator belonged to?

4. Why does the male narrator refer to Agwé?

5. Why do the other people on the boat offer to take care of the baby for Celianne?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. Why does Celianne jump overboard?

3. Where is the line drawn in what is decent and what is not in the boat? What bodily functions, though unavoidable, are in a way shunned or cause the passengers unwonted embarrassment or vulnerability?

4. What bird do both of the narrators mention? In what way do each of them refer to it?

5. What happened to Celianne? Why is she leaving Haiti?

6. Describe the male narrator's interaction with the old man on the boat.

7. Describe Celianne.

8. What happens to the male narrator when he tries to sing?

9. What does the narrator's father call Ville Rose? How is this ironic?

10. What does the male narrator ask of his girlfriend? What does this tell us about him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do you think the banyan tree symbolizes in the story? When does it appear? Who sits under it? What does the narrator say her mother told her about banyan trees? What impact do you think it has on the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Think about the two narrators' surroundings. What do their descriptions of the sea and the mountains foreshadow in the story? What does this tell us about their relationship?

Essay Topic 3

Think about the author's use of color in the story. When is it used? What impact does it have?

(see the answer keys)

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