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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. In the novel, who does the mother favor?

2. In segments 5 and 6, as well as other parts of the novel, which characteristics best describe narrator?

3. Between which years do most of the action referred to in the novel take place?

4. The narrator has ____ older sibling(s).

5. At what age did the narrator start receiving sexual attention from men?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the mother consider writing, in regards to a career for the narrator, to be unconscionable?

2. What events transpire on the trip to France aboard the ocean liner? Why are they important?

3. In segment 13, what happens between the narrator and the lover that results in the narrator being turned off by the lover for the first time?

4. Describe the character of Hélène Lagonelle.

5. What happens to the family's wealth after the father's death?

6. How does the narration of events work in this novel? Is the way that narrator chooses to tell the story confusing or compelling?

7. What structural functions does the opening segment of the novel perform?

8. Describe the mother's behavior toward her daughter's conduct during the height of her relationship with the lover in segments 15 and 16.

9. What does the relationship do to the couple with reference to society?

10. In segment 14, the school officially complains to the mother about the outlandish behavior of her daughter. What does the mother say and how does the school respond?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Although the colony of Chochinchina is a French colony, it is far removed from France. Explain the differences in the colony of Chochinchina and France as seen through the life of the narrator and her family. Do the differences have anything to do with the shift in time periods? Does life change for the narrator simply because she is no longer under the rule of her dysfunctional family?

Essay Topic 2

There are four female characters in this novel. Discuss the role of women in the novel and their relationship and interaction with one another. What are the defining relationships in the novel and what do we learn from them?

Essay Topic 3

French Indochina was a French colony predominantly made up of non-Caucasian natives and French and foreign colonists. How would this arrangement lead to the presence of institutional or colonial racism? How is colonial racism addressed in this novel? What characters in the novel express racism? Provide examples.

(see the answer keys)

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