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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. Alice likens jail to ________________________.

2. What does Alice do when she sees the girls in the jail?

3. Whom do Howard and the girls see on the way home from the jail?

4. Howard wants to move as far away as Alaska or ___________________.

5. What does Alice hear a lot while in jail?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Alice's thoughts about religion as she is locked up?

2. Describe Theresa's last night with Howard and the girls.

3. What is the story about a dog and a tangled leash that recurs throughout the novel?

4. How does Theresa compare court to church?

5. How does Alice feel about Rafferty's plans for her and for the trial?

6. How do Howard and the girls prepare to move out of the farmhouse?

7. What is Howard's perspective on the Goethe quote carved above the courthouse entrance?

8. How does Howard describe his state of confusion in Chapter 11?

9. Why is the lunch between Theresa and Alice so awkward?

10. What does Theresa tell Howard regarding her feelings about her and her life with Dan now?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Create a brief character study of Nellie. What does she look like? What are her positive personality traits? What are some of her negative characteristics? What are her hopes and fears? What motivates her--if anything--at this point?

Essay Topic 2

Create a brief character study of Howard. What does he look like? What are his positive personality traits? What are some of his negative characteristics? What are his hopes and fears? What motivates him--if anything--at this point?

Essay Topic 3

The author begins the story from Alice's perspective and then transitions to Howard's perspective and then reverts back to Alice's perspective. Why did she choose to tell the story this way? In what way is an alternating point of view more interesting for a reader? In what ways is it more complicated?

(see the answer keys)

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