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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 Kinsey suspicious about at the end of her first meeting with Sharon?

2. What other case in Kinsey working on while she thinks about Nikki's request?

3. Which statement does NOT apply to Rosie's Bar?

4. How is Santa Teresa, where Kinsey works and lives, described in Chapter 2?

5. What does Sharon Napier tell Kinsey about Laurence Fife?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Kinsey get to Las Vegas?

2. At the beginning of the novel, Kinsey is approached by Nikki Fife. What is Nikki's background, and what does she want Kinsey to do?

3. In Chapter 6, where does Kinsey meet Nikki to talk about what she has learned so far? What is the place like? What information do they share?

4. What does the reader find out about the city of Santa Teresa in Chapter 2?

5. When Kinsey meets with Gwen for the second time, this time at a restaurant, what does Gwen tell Kinsey about her relationship with Laurence?

6. Kinsey and Nikki discuss how Laurence died. What was the cause of his death?

7. What happens when Lyle comes over to lunch at the Glasses'?

8. What is Kinsey's impression of Las Vegas?

9. Kinsey likes to jog every day, and when she goes out for her daily run after visiting Montebello, Charlie Scorsoni pulls up beside her in his blue Mercedes. They go back to Kinsey's apartment. What do they talk about there?

10. Who is Con Dolan, and why does Kinsey go to visit him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tone refers to the attitude of the author of a work. Through Kinsey, as the narrator of "'A' Is for Alibi," what is the author's tone at different stages of the book? Explain the tone, with examples:

1) At the beginning of the book, when Kinsey takes on the Fife case

2) When Kinsey is doing the groundwork of her investigation

3) When Kinsey gets involved with Charlie

4) When Kinsey gets the answers she needs to solve the case

Essay Topic 2

The resolution of a story is the wrapping up of details and often the aftermath of the climactic events. Why was Kinsey's report included at the end of the book? Do you believe these added to the themes of truth and justice? As a reader, how did you respond to the report?

Essay Topic 3

What do the element of challenges add to a work of fiction, in particular, the murder mystery novel? What challenges does Kinsey Millhone face in "'A' Is for Alibi"? Give four examples of challenges, and explain how she overcomes or is defeated by these challenges.

(see the answer keys)

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