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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 does Kinsey first do to trace Sharon Napier's whereabouts?

2. Kinsey is also working on an insurance fraud case. Whose apartment is she keeping tabs on after she concludes her first meeting with Charlie?

3. Why is Rosie, the owner of Rosie's Bar, openly hostile to Nikki when she and Kinsey meet there for lunch?

4. Why does Kinsey go to see the Santa Teresa detective in Chapter 2?

5. What is the name of the hotel where Sharon Napier worked?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Con Dolan's impression of Kinsey's assessment of the Fife case?

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

3. 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?

4. Immediately after taking on Nikki's case, Kinsey turns her attention to Charlie Scorsoni, Laurence Fife's law partner. What is the result of this?

5. 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?

6. Gwen tells Kinsey that Laurence had an affair with the wife of a judge. What does Kinsey do with this information, and what does she find out?

7. What is Charlie's reaction to Nikki Fife's reopening the murder case? What does he say about Gwen Fife, Sharon Napier, and Libby Glass?

8. Before she agrees to work for Nikki, Kinsey questions her about her marriage to Laurence. What does Nikki tell her? How does Kinsey respond to her?

9. Kinsey meets Nikki for the second time at Rosie's Bar. What is Rose's Bar, and what do they discuss there?

10. After Nikki writes Kinsey a check for her services, the women talk about Sharon Napier. Who is Sharon and what does Nikki tell Kinsey about her? Whom does Kinsey suggest she herself should talk to?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Charlie Scorsoni is presented as an antagonist in "'A' Is for Alibi." Why does the author choose to keep this hidden from the reader until very near the end of the novel? Explain how the author presents Charlie in a negative light, giving four examples.

Essay Topic 2

In reference to the plotting of "'A' Is for Alibi":

(1) Why are the events of the novel arranged as they are?

(2) What moves the narrative along? Is it external action or internal conflicts? Or a combination of both? Support your answer with three examples.

Essay Topic 3

State the theme of A is for Alibi. How does the theme of the story reflected in the conflict? Give four examples with an explanation for each one.

(see the answer keys)

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