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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. Who is described in Chapter 8 as "an actor-handsome, ultra-preppily dressed black guy" (107)?

2. What is the name of the yogurt shop where Tiller met with Pong for the first time after the golf course?

3. By what name does Tiller refer to the city where he lives in Chapter 1?

4. Who is the neighborhood kid whose bike Tiller took when he followed the SUV in Chapter 1?

5. How old is Victor Jr. said to be in Chapter 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. What recent "good thing" (14) does Tiller describe having done for Val in Chapter 1?

2. How are Pong's parents described?

3. Who invited Tiller on the Asia trip and why?

4. How is Pong's family and home described in Chapter 4?

5. How is the motif of food and ingestion highlighted in Chapter 8?

6. Where and how did Tiller and Val meet?

7. How is the setting described in Chapter 1?

8. How does the narrative style of the novel shift in Chapter 9? Why is this significant?

9. What did Perry reveal about his daughter in Chapter 8? How did the others respond?

10. Where does Tiller describe going with VeeJ in Chapter 7? Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the timeline of events and narrative structure in My Year Abroad. How does the author distinguish between the different timelines in the novel? What are the main timelines? What stories step beyond those timelines? How does this structure lend itself to the story? How does it create tension?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the character of Drum Kappagoda in the novel. How old is Drum? How did he attain his fortune? What are his primary motivations in the novel? What becomes of him by the novel's ending?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the thematic handing of the loss of the mother in My Year Abroad. What characters in the novel have lost their mothers? How has their loss impacted them? How does Tiller come to terms with the loss of his mother in the course of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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