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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 object did Brother Luke give to Jude on his fifth birthday?

2. What is the name of JB's grandmother?

3. What is Ratstar?

4. What does Malcolm's father do for a living?

5. Who accuses Jude of stealing an object from him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss a quality that Jude has in common with either Malcolm or JB.

2. What two elements of Willem's life in Wyoming does he miss?

3. What happens to necessitate the use of the fire escape?

4. In what way is foreshadowing included in relation to Jude's future?

5. In what way are the themes of secrecy and control depicted in Part II: The Postman?

6. Discuss the socioeconomic gaps present among the group of four friends: Malcolm, JB, Willem, and Jude.

7. Who is Felix and what is significant about his emotional breakdown?

8. In what way is the theme of acquiescence included in the first part of A Little Life?

9. How does the theme of regret appear within A Little Life?

10. What impetus prompts Malcolm to come out to his parents?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Yanagihara’s use of metaphor, simile, imagery, and other literary devices as a means to send particular thematic messages within the narrative of A Little Life.

Essay Topic 2

Could A Little Life be classified as a saga? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Yanagihara's choice to tell the story of A Little Life using a third person omniscient narrator. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Yanagihara’s intended effects on the reader?

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