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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. How long did Ben live?

2. How long had Miriam worked at the bookshop the first time she saw Theo there?

3. What type of fence did Miriam have to climb when she though Jez was coming after her in the car?

4. Where was Jeremy's car found?

5. What book was Theo working on when Ben died?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Carla not answer Theo's calls in Chapter 21?

2. What does Theo remember about the last time he saw Angela?

3. In Chapter 26, what does Laura confess to Irene?

4. What did Theo do when he had horrible writer's block?

5. Why did Irene like Angela, and why does she like Laura?

6. Why did Laura stab a man in the hand with a fork?

7. Who stops and talks to Laura when she is banging on the door to the launderette?

8. What message does Deidre leave for Laura on her phone?

9. Where does Carla go and what does she do on what would have been Ben's 18th birthday?

10. What happened to the man who abducted Miriam and killed Lorraine?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the novel, some characters are more thoroughly described than others. Who are some characters that are merely named in passing or have a minor role in the novel? What is the importance of these flat characters to the storyline? In what way do these characters make the main characters more colorful or interesting? When there is conflict, what type of role do these flat characters play?

Essay Topic 2

What a reader knows about events and characters is determined by the point of view in a book. What is the point of view in A Slow Burning Fire? How does the point of view influence what readers know about events and people?

Essay Topic 3

Laura was in an accident when she was ten. How was Laura injured when she was ten? What physical and emotional injuries did she sustain? Why was she diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury? How is she affected by the accident even as an adult?

(see the answer keys)

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