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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How do Betsy and Josephine refer to the women Mr. Carver begins dating after he dates older women?
(a) "Youngish women."
(b) "Floozies."
(c) "Opportunists."
(d) "Gold diggers."

2. While in high school, what does Phillip begin collecting?
(a) Baseball and football trading cards.
(b) Comics and action heros.
(c) LP's and 45's.
(d) Rare books and first editions.

3. Phillip believes Alex cannot see that underneath Betsy and Josephine's stated love for their father lies what other emotion?
(a) Sadness.
(b) Hatred.
(c) Gratitude.
(d) Respect.

4. Who does Phillip believe his sister Betsy is going to the bars with while watching her father?
(a) No one.
(b) A friend from work.
(c) Howard.
(d) Her new fiance.

5. According to Phillip, how many children do Alex and his wife have?
(a) Seven.
(b) Three or four.
(c) Five or six.
(d) Two.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is Clara sent away by her father?

2. For what reason are the daughters considered the "laughing stock of the town"?

3. Both Betsy and Josephine call to give Phillip what news?

4. What do Betsy and Josephine tell Phillip about their father's dress and appearance at these clubs?

5. In what year does the relationship between Clara and Phillip end?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 4, Phillip describes meeting Alex Mercer. How does Phillip meet Alex and how does their friendship grow? What do each represent to the other?

2. In Chapter 6, Betsy describes one evening at the Blue Moon when Mr. Carver arrives with a group of six people all of whom are much younger than he. What happens that evening to Mr. Carver?

3. In Chapter 5, Phillip tells the story of the pendant. What is the significance of four leaf clovers in the love affair between Clara and Phillip?

4. In Chapter 4, Alex also meets Mr. Carver. Where do the two meet, and what brings them together? How does their relationship grow during the course of the chapter?

5. In Chapter 4, Phillip discusses Alex's concerns about Mr. Carver. Phillip listens, but thinks that Alex may not know his sisters as well as he thinks he does. What does Alex fear will happen to Mr. Carver and why? How does Phillip see the situation?

6. In Chapter 5, Phillip describes his summer at Fort Oglethorpe. What was this summer like for him? Why has he chosen this summer in particular to describe in detail?

7. Phillip paints a descriptive picture of his two sisters, Betsy and Josephine, in Chapter 1. How are the two sisters similar? How do they differ?

8. Phillip is in New York in Chapter 3 and receiving letters from Alex, Betsy and Josephine about Mr. Carver. How does Phillip react to his father's dating? How does he respond to his sisters' treatment of Mr. Carver both in public and private? Why does he take the position he does? How does he respond to Alex's concerns?

9. When Phillip describes Memphis in Chapter 2, he paints detailed pictures of the city of his adolescence and the one he encounters during his adult visits home. He also compares Memphis to Nashville. How has the city of Memphis changed in Phillip's opinion? How do the two cities still differ?

10. In his letters to Phillip, Alex talks about Betsy and Josephine's involvement in the social scene in Memphis. In Chapter 3, Alex explains that the two women are rather considered a social institution in Memphis. But Alex also speaks at length about how the two women are the "laughing stock of the town." What does Alex mean by this? How does Phillip react to seeing his sisters when he visits?

(see the answer keys)

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