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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. Why is there a white van outside Marie's house the night she goes out with Thomas?

2. Where does the narrator drop off the kids in the first chapter?

3. Who does Marie have an argument with at the airport?

4. What does Chris like?

5. What is Marie's favorite thing to do in the summer growing up?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was the early 1960s such a scary time for Marie?

2. What happens at Lenox Lounge with Thomas?

3. Who tells Helene all about spies?

4. What happens when Marie invites Thomas to her place for a nightcap?

5. Where do Marie's sons stay for a night in Connecticut?

6. What does Pop do to punish Helene?

7. What is Marie like as a child?

8. What happens at Helene's wake?

9. Who is the first person Marie understood to be a spy?

10. Where does Marie take the boys in the first chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you analyze Marie's anxieties about war. In what ways does the Cold War shape and inform that inherent fear? Use examples from the text to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you analyze how Marie deals with the loss of her sister, Helene. How does this loss affect her, and aside from the fact that with death comes grief, why is Helene's death particularly difficult for Marie to contend with? Use examples from the text to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about Marie's relationship to her father. What is their relationship like, and why?

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