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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. Who does Annie ask if she has killed?

2. What surprises Annie about Dr. Blumenfeld?

3. What is the name of the treatment center where Annie does her doctoral clinical internship?

4. What is the first thing Annie tells Dr. Blumefeld?

5. What is the name of the puppet in Annie's playroom?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is it significant that Annie does not let Ben keep the spring he finds on the playroom floor?

2. Describe the collages that Annie makes while in the hospital.

3. Why do you believe that it is significant that Annie is no longer remembering large chunks of her day?

4. In what way is the bird that Ben paints connected with the bird that Annie paints?

5. Why does Annie dislike the clinical discussion that occurs between her classmates?

6. What do you believe magic represented to Ben?

7. What bothers Annie about Ben's behavior during their sessions?

8. Why do you believe Ben refuses to see Annie for three weeks during their sessions?

9. When Annie researched Ben's past, what did she find out about his first foster home?

10. How does Annie interpret her first session with Ben after the Christmas break?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Prepare a character sketch for Annie. Be sure to include aspects such as 1. background, 2. changes in emotional status through the course of the novel, 3. Annie's multiple personalities and what parts of Annie these personalities represent.

Essay Topic 2

Who do you believe the little girl is that Annie sees at the beginning of the book? What about the girl in the doctor's office when Annie is admitted to the hospital? Who is the girl who plays chess with Telesporus when Annie is in the hospital? Do you believe these girls are different girls, or the same one? It is known that Annie had multiple personalities. Are these girls fragments of herself, or do they represent Annie as a young child? Explain your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Consider the titles that Annie uses in her book, both the main title and section titles for the three main sections of the novel.

1. Do you believe the section titles (The Other Side of Silence, Silence and Messenger) are appropriate? Explain how each title relates to the information included in that section of the text.

2. Do you believe the main title of the novel, A Shining Affliction, is appropriate? To what affliction does the title refer? Why is this affliction considered to be shining?

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