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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 what make of car are Connie and Pepe riding when they are portrayed as "racing up a peak in an open car, the fleeing road continually swering away so abruptly they seemed every moment about to spring into space, into the white night glittering beyond the sheer edge of the road, howing with wild wind" (90)?

2. During Connie and Pepe's conversation on the cliff in Chapter 1: Paco, Pepe suggests that Connie go to what location for help with any problems she may have?

3. What is the last name of the man named Paco, with whom Connie is carrying on an extramarital affair?

4. What promise does Pepe exact from Connie when he agrees to take her to Rita's place and to talk to Macho on her behalf?

5. For how many weeks did Connie go missing in her adolescence the time she was found working in a chop suey restaurant?

Short Essay Questions

1. What proof does Connie provide to back up her claims about Macho's other lover?

2. Discuss an instance when Pepe's father's actions highlight particular expectations he had for his two sons Pepe and Tony when they were boys.

3. Which character is the reader meant to believe when Concha's mention of Connie's age and marital status conflict with Connie's account? How do you know?

4. What connection exists between Pepe and Concha, as revealed in Chapter 1: Paco?

5. What explanation does Connie give for her decision to race her Jaguar to the precipice of a steep cliff in Chapter 2: Macho?

6. What fairly recent event does Pepe see as the one that transformed his father's personality?

7. Who is Helen?

8. How does the motif of sound appear within Pepe's recollections of his father's stories about Binondo?

9. Discuss a moment in the narrative when laughter is shown to be helpful in solving conflicts.

10. Describe the setting and impetus of Pepe's second-ever encounter with Connie.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sensory details are used frequently by Joaquin in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of The Woman With Two Navels. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Joaquin’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

Essay Topic 2

Choose an object from The Woman With Two Navels, such as the wedding ring, the doll, the stone steps left in the ruins of the sprawling home in Binondo, or some other symbolic object, and discuss its overall meaning and its connection to themes within the text.

Essay Topic 3

How are the topics of romantic relationships, love, and sex treated within the novel The Woman With Two Navels and how does their treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?

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This section contains 1,461 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample