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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. When Gil stays at Nok's house, what does he call her?

2. What song does Ethan's mother enjoy singing during parties at their apartment when he is younger?

3. What time is it when Maribel ignores phone calls from Schuyler when she returns home from the pub?

4. What are Maribel and Schuyler doing for work when they first meet?

5. What can Ethan's father say in Cantonese?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Ethan's childhood. How does he feel about his father traveling often to Asia for work?

2. How does Maribel describe how she feels after becoming romantically involved with Schuyler?

3. How does Abby, Gil's first wife, handle the news about her husband's secret?

4. How does Veronica handle losing her husband, Schuyler, after he is killed overseas?

5. After Schuyler dies, what scary dream does Veronica dream about?

6. What surprises Joe about Veronica's relationship and marriage to Schuyler, her husband?

7. What secret does Ethan and his family learn about Gil?

8. What is the narrative structure throughout the novel?

9. When Jake and June visit Joe and Nok, and they are about to eat the orchid cake made by Veronica, what task do they do in order to cut the cake?

10. After Ethan phones his mother to say Gil probably missed her, how does Abby react?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing the differences between Tara being raised in Kathmandu versus California and New York. How does the role of money change their happiness in two different places?

Essay Topic 2

Growing up, Ethan's father often traveled to Thailand, and many other Asian countries, for work. Travel is a prominent theme throughout the novel. Select 2-3 characters from the novel and explain how travel affected their relationships with themselves, family members, and romantic partners.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay summarizing and then analyzing what you think to be the most significant chapter in the novel connected to the theme of love.

(see the answer keys)

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