View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what form would Marks & Co. prefer to receive payment from Helene?

2. How does Helene feel about the first edition that Frank sends in 1950?

3. What street does Helene live on in New York City?

4. What does Helene do when she received the first edition from Frank in 1950?

5. What does Helene do for a living?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of books of poems does Helene request from Marks & Co. in her March 25, 1950 letter?

2. Why is Helene so thrilled to receive Walton's Lives from Frank in 1952?

3. What does Helene think of the first books she receives from Marks & Co. versus the books she buys in America?

4. What information does Frank's wife Nora share in her first letter to Helene?

5. Why does Helene Hanff write the first letter to the proprietors of the Marks & Co. bookstore in London, England?

6. What does Helene complain about in her letter to Frank in January 1958?

7. Why doesn't Helene hear from Frank the first two months of 1958?

8. How does Frank respond to Helene's jokingly asking for prayers for the Brooklyn Dodgers playing in the World Series that year?

9. Why does Helene's request from the British booksellers decrease by 1968?

10. What do Frank and the rest of the Marks & Co. staff send to Helene as a token of their appreciation for the care packages?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how a simple request for books that is the basis of the letters becomes a respectful relationship that grows through the years. Do you think the same sort of relationships grow out of emails between strangers in today's society? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how the world of books is just as real to Helene as the world in which she lives.

Essay Topic 3

What do you think the purpose is of including Maxine's letters in the book? What context and insight do they give to the storyline?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 799 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample