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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. Who does Joan want to get out of jail in Toronto?

2. How does Joan help the political group?

3. What does Joan use as a weapon to defend herself when a stranger knocks at her door in Terremoto?

4. What does the landlord's father discover?

5. What happens to the reporter when Joan opens the door of her flat in Terremoto?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Joan's affair with Royal Porcupine affect her stability?

2. How does Joan deal with her belief that she is being held captive?

3. How does Joan take responsibility for her actions when she hears about Sam's arrest?

4. Explain the circumstances and symbolism behind Joan's cut feet.

5. What does the reappearance of The Fat Lady in Chapter 27 suggest about how Joan perceives herself?

6. How has Joan accomplished a transformation at the end of the novel?

7. How does Joan react when she reads the newspaper clippings that Sam sends her?

8. What role does the picnicking family play in Joan's plan to disappear?

9. Explain how Joan uses lies to allow herself a vacation to Italy.

10. In Chapter 31, how is it clear that Joan is beginning to unravel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Joan's actions that show her as a woman who is independent but also submissive to the men in her life. When she leaves her double life behind, how does she begin to show that she is becoming more assertive?

Essay Topic 2

Lady Oracle was published in 1976. How does Joan's life as a woman reflect the attitudes of that time? Compare her life as a wife to her life as a romance novelist. Which allows her to move beyond traditional roles? Do you think she is a character who is ahead of her time?

Essay Topic 3

Provide several examples of how humor is used in surprising ways to develop the plot of Lady Oracle. Is this an effective writing technique?

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