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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. What ratio of Filipinos work abroad?

2. How many cities make up Manila?

3. How many times is Garbes able to catch herself before she and her toddler get into a yelling match and speak calmly?

4. What were the names of the domestic workers who raised Garbes' mother?

5. Since when has artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles been exploring how culture devalues maintenance work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Garbes' thoughts about care work?

2. What has having children taught Garbes about love being an action verb?

3. What were balikbayan boxes?

4. What was life like for Garbes before the pandemic?

5. What did poet Ocean Vuong say about love for the Vietnamese?

6. What is reproductive labor?

7. Early during the Covid-19 quarantine, what did Garbes ask herself about how to spend her time, and what did she decide?

8. What are two ways that Garbes handles times when her toddler refuses to get dressed or wear anything other than a dress that is in the washing machine?

9. Why is Garbes not entirely comfortable with household help as she observes it in the Philippines?

10. What was it like when Garbes tried to work during the pandemic quarantine?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Garbes felt detached from community growing up in Pennsylvania. Why did Garbes feel detached from community as a child? How does the concept of bayanihan explain community in the Philippines? Why does Garbes believe bayanihan could improve family life in America?

Essay Topic 2

Idioms are words that have a figurative, rather than a literal meaning. How are idioms used in in Essential Labor? How do idioms help create word pictures and mental images for readers in a concise manner?

Essay Topic 3

Mood is an element that evokes feelings in readers through the use of descriptive language. Mood is the overall feeling that readers have when reading a book. What is the overall mood of Essential Labor?

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This section contains 863 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample