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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. How did Wendell’s son die?

2. What does Ana buy at the end of the chapter titled “Ana”?

3. Why does Kim choose a place behind a refrigerator?

4. How does Sam get people to open up?

5. What language does Tio Juan speak?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Kim’s family keep a photo of their father at an alter?

2. Why does Leona decide she needs to do something about the lot?

3. At the end of this chapter “Sam,” why does Sam claim the garden is a reflection of Cleveland?

4. Why do you think Ana is so suspicious of Kim?

5. How does the chapter “Wendell” begin to show that words are not necessary to bring cultures together?

6. Why do you think Kim wants to remain hidden when she plants?

7. What is the cultural problem Sam finds about the lot?

8. Describe the bottle incident, and Sam’s fears.

9. Why does Gonzalo end up having to “babysit” his uncle?

10. Why does Leona want to plant goldenrod?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Suspicion of others is a major theme in the novel, as there are many who are suspicious of their neighbors in this particular area. How does the garden help these individuals to lower their guard with one another? What is the garden able to do that merely living together does not do?

Essay Topic 2

Sae Young has had a very difficult life, as has Wendell. Compare the lives of these two characters, and their reactions to those lives. How do their very difference experiences lead them to the same place? What does this say about human tragedy, and our responses to such tragedies?

Essay Topic 3

Royce does not have a chapter in the novel, and yet he is mentioned by several characters. Who mentions him, and why? What does Royce’s character bring to the novel that enhances the author’s message? What is Royce’s background, and how do people see him originally? How does this change over the course of the novel, and why?

(see the answer keys)

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