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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 the father of Maxine's aunt's baby?

2. What character does "No Name Woman" most likely refer to?

3. What does Maxine's aunt do after delivering her baby?

4. According to Chinese custom, where would Maxine's mother and aunt have lived after their husbands left?

5. Where does Maxine attend college in the sixties?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is narrator's impression of her mother when looking at the old medical school photograph?

2. What are two of the three Chinese customs the narrator comments on after pondering how her aunt became pregnant?

3. Why does the narrator always add the word "brother" to boys' names?

4. Describe one possibility the narrator considers to explain how her aunt may have become pregnant.

5. How does the narrator feel when she is told not to speak of her aunt?

6. Do you think the story of the narrator's aunt is true? Explain why or why not.

7. How does Moon Orchid's husband react when he sees her?

8. In "White Tigers," why does the young woman hide her gender from her army?

9. What do Brave Orchid's daughters learn from watching what happens between Moon Orchid and her husband?

10. Why doesn't the narrator visit her parents often?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think the narrator had trouble speaking in school? Why do you think she was able to overcome this difficulty later in life? How does the end of the novel relate to the difficulties she had speaking as a child?

Essay Topic 2

A significant portion of this novel deals with storytelling and ghost stories, many of which are told by the narrator's mother. Choose and answer two of the following questions.

1) Do you think the narrator's mother's stories are mostly true? Explain why or why not using specific examples.

2) Why does the narrator's mother tell these stories? Do you think she achieves her purpose in telling them?

3) Which of these stories is your favorite? Explain why or why not. The story you choose must be one the narrator's mother tells, and must not be one you use to answer the other question you choose.

Essay Topic 3

What are some of the battles the narrator feels she must take on as a woman warrior? Describe at least three, and explain how these goals impact the narrator's life.

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