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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 is Ginny to do at a cafe?

2. Who is Cecil Gage-Rathbone?

3. For what does Ginny say she's been searching?

4. Where is Ginny to take the night train to?

5. Over what does Carrie weep?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Ginny go first in Paris and what does the letter say that she opens there?

2. What does the key fit and what does Ginny find there? What does she do next?

3. What does Ginny tell Keith about Richard and what does he say to her?

4. What does Ginny do when she leaves Richard after learning he was Peg's husband?

5. Why does Ginny have to look for a hostel in Amsterdam and how does she feel about the first one she finds?

6. Where is Ginny suppose to go after Rome, where is she suppose to stay and why?

7. What does Ginny see with Knud and what happens there?

8. How does Ginny feel about getting out of the cemetery and what does Keith do when she says she missed the locking of the hostel?

9. What does Peg say about Paris when she finished her job at the cafe and what does she tell Ginny she is to do next?

10. What does Ginny find at the second hostel she stops at and how does she end up spending the night there? What does she do once she has a place?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1. What is foreshadowing? How many incidences of foreshadowing are in "13 Little Blue Envelopes"? How does foreshadowing contribute to a book's suspense?

2. Discuss an example of foreshadowing in "13 Little Blue Envelopes" including why you believe it is foreshadowing. Include examples from the book and your own life to illustrate your answer.

3. How do you think most people react to uncertainty in their lives? Use examples from "13 Little Blue Envelopes" and your own live to support your opinion.

Essay Topic 2

Over the course of "13 Little Blue Envelopes", Ginny grows as a person in both complexity and understanding. "13 Little Blue Envelopes" might be considered a slice of Ginny's larger story of her "coming of age." It might be said that this story is a "bildungsroman" of Ginny Blackstone. Discuss the following:

1. Define Bildungsroman, or "Coming of Age," and give several examples from literature you have read.

2. Trace and analyze the character of Ginny as she changes from a shy teen to a more confident young woman. What are the significant events that change Ginny?

3. After thoroughly analyzing Ginny's growth throughout "13 Little Blue Envelopes", do you think "13 Little Blue Envelopes" could be considered Ginny's Coming of Age story? Why or why not?

4. Are there any other characters in "13 Little Blue Envelopes" who go through a Coming of Age experience? Who? Why do you think so?

Essay Topic 3

There are a number of interesting questions raised by "13 Little Blue Envelopes". Questions that Johnson most likely want readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Johnson' agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Johnson' probable agenda concerning that idea.

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

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

4. Research the life of Johnson and see if/where his life may have influenced his writing.

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