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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 did Helene's friend Brian go to get a money order to send to London?

2. Why does Helene fear her library card will be revoked?

3. What does Helene send in her Christmas package to Marks & Co?

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

5. Helene says that from where she sits, London is a lot closer than _____________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Helene's friend Maxine's impressions when she visits Marks & Co. in London?

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

3. What news about his daughter, Sheila, does Frank share with Helene in 1963?

4. Why is Sheila going to say a "jolly good prayer" for Helene?

5. How does Helene describe herself in her letter to Cecily?

6. How does Helene get nylons to women of Marks & Co.?

7. Why does Cecily request that Helene save any travel plans to England until 1955?

8. Why does Helene have to stall her travel plans to England in 1953?

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

10. What news about Cecily does Nora share with Helene?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

What does Helene mean when she says she developed her "peculiar taste in books" from a Cambridge professor? Do you think she actually met this person in the library or "fell over" his book? Do you think she means literally "fell over" or metaphorically?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the unspoken stories that lie beneath the surface of the letters, which encompass so many people over so many years.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 779 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample