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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. Where is Charles born?

2. What is the table covered in one morning when Isobel goes downstairs?

3. When Isobel hears the supposed name of Debbie's illness, what does she wonder?

4. For how long have historians searched for the Fairfax jewel?

5. Who is Malcolm Lovat?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Isobel and Charles find their mother and what do they do?

2. What does Isobel observe on a visit to the Baxters in autumn?

3. Who is Audrey, and how does her father treat her?

4. How is Mr. Rice presented in a less-than-favorable narrative?

5. Where does Malcolm take Isobel, and what happens there?

6. How does Isobel come to find a single, unusual shoe in Vinny's closet and what is Vinny's reaction?

7. Give a very brief synopsis of the Fairfax family's status over time.

8. What leads to Isobel's house being infested with fleas?

9. What do the neighbors think of the new baby in the Fairfax household?

10. Describe how Charles and Isobel are born.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. Compare/contrast Isobel's and Charles' reaction to the disappearance of their mother. How do you think you would have reacted in a similar situation? Explain.

2. Discuss how you would have handled things were you in Isobel at Hilary's party. Do you think she handles the party better or worse than (or about the same) as you? Would you have confided in your someone about the party? Why or why not?

3. Do you think Isobel and Charles should have been taken to a therapist? Why? What do you think the therapists would have said to each of them?

Essay Topic 2

Many books are often made into a movie based upon the book. Discuss the following:

1. Do you think you would enjoy watching a film based upon "Human Croquet"? Why or why not?

2. Do you think the subject matter would be more difficult or easier to portray in film versus in the book? Explain your reasoning.

3. Would you allow your high school-aged son or daughter (imagining you have one) to view the film? Explain your answer.

4. How do you think the movie would differ from the book? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Many authors if queried would admit that they have an agenda for writing a particular novel. Discuss the following:

1. Define and give examples of the concept of "author agenda."

2. Do you think Atkinson has an agenda in mind when she writes "Human Croquet"?

3. What do you think would be Atkinson's agenda(s) (if she has one)? Give examples to illustrate how the agenda is fulfilled.

4. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

5. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

(see the answer keys)

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