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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens between the female narrator's family in the latrine?

2. Who says, "Banyan trees are holy and sometimes if we call the gods from beneath them, they will hear our voices clearer?"

3. What does the female narrator say has become her "most trusted friend?"

4. What part of the female narrator's body shivers when she thinks of her boyfriend in danger?

5. What does the narrator say lies beyond the mountains?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"From here, I cannot even see the sea. Behind these mountains are more mountains and more black butterflies still and a sea that is endless like my love for you." Think about this quote from the end of the story. What is it's significance? What are its contrasting elements? What does this say about the narrator?

Essay Topic 2

How is the sea personified in the story? What do the narrators descriptions of the sea tell us about the narrator himself? How does this contrast with the female narrator's descriptions of the mountains?

Essay Topic 3

"I go to them now as though it was always meant to be, as though the very day that my mother birthed me, she had chosen me to live life eternal, among the children of the deep blue sea, those who have escaped the chains of slavery to form a world beneath the heavens and the blood-drenched earth where you live."

Consider the quote above. Explain its significance in the story. Pay special attention to syntax, tone, diction, imagery and meaning.

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This section contains 318 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample