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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. What is Susan's first clue that her marriage may not be everything she has dreamed?

2. What is Lyman's fear?

3. How does the author use Shelley to expand the storyline?

4. Where do Susan and the baby go when he takes the job?

5. What is the bad news her mother tells her on the first day home?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Oliver unsuccessful in his attempts to market his invention?

2. How is the trip from Denver to Leadville symbolic of the Wards' marriage?

3. How is Susan's transformation into a western woman exemplified in this chapter?

4. How is Susan's embarrassment with her husband's social abilities highlighted in this chapter?

5. Why doesn't Susan want Oliver to accept the job in Bolivia?

6. What makes Lyman wonder about his grandmother's sexual preferences?

7. What does Lyman hope to accomplish during the writing about his grandparents' lives?

8. What attracted Susan to Oliver?

9. How are the 24 canaries sent to Shelley like the elk head sent to Susan?

10. What is Susan's attitude towards her marriage and new life in this chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Could Susan have been a mining engineer? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

How does Susan maintain her genteel style of living even in the wild west? Give specific examples and why these items or styles were important to maintain the gentility.

Essay Topic 3

What are Susan and Oliver's basic complaints about each other? How do they try to resolve it, if at all? Give examples of her anger towards him, and his towards her.

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