View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What movie does Frances decide she wants to see when she spends a weekend with Joan?

2. What boarding school are Barbara and Daniel planning to send Frances to?

3. When Vanessa sleeps over at Joan's what time does she leave the apartment?

4. How often are Joan and Vanessa late for work after they get together?

5. When Joan goes to Cape Canaveral in preparation for her flight, how much time will she be quarantined with her crew?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Joan upset when she goes to pick up Frances, and Frances is sitting on the stoop locked out of the house?

2. What advice does Joan give Lydia, when Lydia wonders why she was not chosen to fly on the shuttle?

3. What problems does Vanessa have when she tries to close the latches on the payload doors?

4. What is Vanessa's response when Joan asks her to come pick up Frances one day?

5. Why is Frances lonely after her mother and Daniel marry?

6. Where do Joan and Vanessa decide to go together, and how do they get there?

7. Why does Vanessa say that only an idiot would call someone a "pansy" (210)?

8. How do Joan, Donna, and Lydia feel about the jokes the men make about them and the other women in the ASCAN program?

9. What does Barbara decide to do for Thanksgiving in 1984?

10. Why does Joan think she should be assigned time in Mission Control?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Vanessa is fascinated with the history of flight. Why does the history of flight enthrall Vanessa and give her hope?

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 Atmosphere? How does the point of view influence what readers know about events and characters? How does it help readers connect with and understand characters?

Essay Topic 3

A non-linear narrative moves back and forth in time. How does Reid use a non-linear narrative to focus on what is important in Atmosphere? How does the non-linear narrative help readers better understand characters, especially Joan and Vanessa?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,000 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample