University of Puerto
Rico
English Department
INGL 3104
Prof. Carmen Milagros Torres
Test: The Firefly Letters (100
points)
Instructions: Answer each question in paragraph or
essay form. If the test is answered in
HANDWRITTEN form, you must use LOOSE LEAF PAPER and leave a line IN BLANK. It must be answered in INK that is BLUE or
BLACK. Tests answered in PENCIL will
receive a ZER (0). If using a word
processing program answer using a font like ARIAL or TIMES NEW ROMAN 12 pt and
DOUBLE SPACE your answers.
1. Beni is presented as a minor
character in the story. Most of this
participation is of reference because he is Cecilia’s husband. As mentioned on page 35 “If I had been free/
to choose my own wife,/ I would have married the girl/ I loved so long ago/
before I was captured/ by men with guns”
Your assignment is to write Beni’s story before he was captured and made
a slave. You can tell his story through
verse (by writing a series of poems
similar to the is presented in the book) or narrate it. The story must be at least one page long and
must present at least one scene of his life in Africa, just before being
captured. Include other characters like
the girl he had planned to marry. (20)
2. Cecilia also had life before being
captured and brought to Cuba. She was
betrayed by her father who sold her to the slave traders. She yearns to be with her mother and this is a
trauma is carries all her life. Go back
with Cecilia and tell the story of her life with her mother. Write a scene presenting the relationship
Cecilia and her mother had. What name
did Cecilia have? What activities did
she do with her mother? How did she feel
living in the Congo? Tell her story
through poetry or narrate it. The scene
must be at least one page long. (20 points)
3. Write the scene where Elena makes the
decision of selling all her dowry to help Cecilia. Why does Elena make the decision? How does she contact Frederika without her
mother’s noticing this? How does
Frederika react? How is Frederika
convinced? Are they two alone or is
there someone else present when this scene takes place? Present this scene. (20 points)
4. After the last page of the story is
read, the story still continues on, for we as readers only get a glimpse of the
whole story. In a short essay, tell us
what happens to all these characters after the last page of the story is
read. Justify what you speculate citing
from the novel as evidence as well as the readings assigned previously
(articles). (25 points)
5. Write a short letter to the author
expressing why you liked or didn’t like the novel. Mention what was for you the most memorable
scene. State also if you consider that
writing the novel in verse made it easier or more challenging for you as a
reader.
Also include what you would have done differently, if you had written the
novel. Explain why. (15 points)
THE TEST WILL BE HANDED-IN ON THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2011 DURING THE CLASS PERIOD. LATE WORK WILL LOSE 15 POINTS.
