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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 Howard's state of mind in this section?

2. Howard wants to move as far away as Alaska or ___________________.

3. In what city is Alice in jail?

4. What surgery does Alice have while in jail?

5. Why does Howard decide to take the girls to see Alice?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Alice's thoughts about religion as she is locked up?

2. How does the sale of the farm affect both Howard and Alice?

3. Why does Alice compare Howard to her father?

4. How is the Goodwin family's life in the apartment radically different from the farm where they belong?

5. Why is the lunch between Theresa and Alice so awkward?

6. What is Howard's perspective on the Goethe quote carved above the courthouse entrance?

7. How do Howard and the girls prepare to move out of the farmhouse?

8. What is Theresa's view on mercy at this point in her life?

9. What is Alice's perspective on Nellie's so-called generosity?

10. How does Theresa add comfort to the lives of Howard and the girls at the same time that the farm is dying?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author begins the story from Alice's perspective and then transitions to Howard's perspective and then reverts back to Alice's perspective. Why did she choose to tell the story this way? In what way is an alternating point of view more interesting for a reader? In what ways is it more complicated?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the concept of loneliness as it exhibits in the story. Which of the characters are lonely? Are they all lonely in some way? Explain loneliness and the methods and attempts to overcome it.

Essay Topic 3

The author uses more than one theme in the novel. Identify at least two themes in the story and then cite an example to support each theme.

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