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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. What do Dave and Toph have to rush to in this chapter?

2. What does Dave resent in this chapter?

3. Who carries Dave and Beth's mother to the car?

4. Why does Dave not go out at night?

5. Where does Meredith agree to meet Dave?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is wrong with Dave's mother at the beginning of Chapter 1?

2. What kind of relationships with women does Dave have during this period?

3. In what way does Dave struggle with the memory of his parents in Chapter 4?

4. Why does Dave call a nurse rather than take his mother to the hospital?

5. What problems does Dave have cooking?

6. How does Dave's situation change at the beginning of chapter 3?

7. Why does Dave feel uncomfortable when he takes Toph to Little League games?

8. Give an example of Dave and Toph's being late.

9. Why does Dave think it is important to go to the gym?

10. What does Dave decide to do instead of finding a job?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What major events had a profound effect on Eggers' life and how did they change him? What does Eggers still have to learn by the end of the book?

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the following options and discuss how illness affected that particular area in Eggers' life.

1) Work

2) Social life

3) Intimate relationships

4) Family

Essay Topic 3

Examine Dave's influence on Toph.

1) What is Dave's philosophy about how to bring up Toph?

2) How would Dave change how he brought up Toph if he could do it again?

3) How different would Toph's life have been if he had lived with another one of his siblings?

(see the answer keys)

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