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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. Where does Calvin and Alice have a summer home?

2. In chapter five, an article on what subject in the Times enraged Alice?

3. Where does Alice once work?

4. In chapter five, which movie is referenced?

5. In chapter five, which person is mentioned as having volunteered at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp?

Short Essay Questions

1. Compare Calvin Trillin's father to Alice's.

2. What is the SEEK program? Why is it important to Alice?

3. Why does Alice think that marrying Calvin Trillin means she has to live a modest lifestyle?

4. Why does Calvin Trillin show his wife Alice his rough drafts?

5. In chapter five, following Alice's bypass operation, what warning does Alice's surgeon give Calvin Trillin?

6. True or false: Alice shies away from taboo subjects. Explain your answer.

7. What is Alice's attitude toward spending money?

8. Does Alice ever exercise restraint when it comes to controversial subjects?

9. In what ways are Calvin Trillin and Alice lucky?

10. In chapter six, explain Calvin Trillin's theory about the person who makes out the mortgage check in a marriage.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of money in About Alice.

Part 1) What is Alice's attitude toward spending money? (Include the Alice Tax and Alice's Law of Compensatory Cash Flow in your response.)

Part 2) What is Calvin's attitude toward spending money? (Include Calvin's theory on writing the mortgage check.)

Compare and contrast the views of Alice and Calvin regarding money. To what extent are they products of their respective upbringings? Is money a source of conflict for them?

Cite examples from the book in your response.

Essay Topic 2

Write the following essay from the first person point of view of Alice Trillin.

Part 1) Discuss your views on social activism.

Part 2) Why do you care so much about certain causes? Give a list of the ones that mean the most to you, and how you go about pursuing these causes.

Part 3) What do you hope to instill in your daughters through your social activism?

Part 4) What is wrong about being passive?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay explaining the secret that Alice learns from a little girl named L. at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. What special meaning does this lesson carry for Alice? In what ways is L. similar to Alice in the way she lives her life? Cite examples from the book in your response.

(see the answer keys)

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