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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. Who cannot act, as seen in the play practice, causing Briony to become even more frustrated with her play?

2. Whose passing into adulthood is Emily mourning in this section of the book?

3. What breaks when Robbie and Cecilia argue over who will help with filling it?

4. What does Emily need to don in order to go to see Briony and to comfort her?

5. Who calls Lola and her brothers to their bath, causing the meeting with the answer to #54 to be over?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Cecilia's father disapprove of which she does in spite of this disapproval?

2. What does Briony think she should have done for her brother, Leon's, return?

3. What does Robbie presume will happen in relation to the funding for his future schooling?

4. Why does Robbie think he should have turned down Leon's invitation to dinner?

5. What is the name of the play Briony has been trying to prepare for a few days?

6. What is wrong with the play, according to Briony?

7. For what does Robbie type a letter to Cecilia as an apology?

8. What is Briony's reaction to her big brother when he approaches her?

9. What mystery does Briony begin to contemplate as she is looking at her hand?

10. What is Robbie thinking of as he soaks in a bathtub?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The library scene between Robbie and Cecilia is one that can shock readers, while also causing them to learn more about these two characters and their feelings for each other.

Part 1: Why do you think this scene was narrated by Robbie instead of Cecilia?

Part 2: How did you feel about Robbie before the scene? After the scene?

Part 3: How does this scene show the true feelings between these two characters?

Essay Topic 2

The theme of love and romance is an expected one in a novel containing a young girl who looks to her older sisters to see what "real life" will be like when she grows up.

Part 1: What does Briony think romance and love should include?

Part 2: What do you think Cecilia uses as a definition of love and romance? What does love include, according to her?

Part 3: Cite two examples of love relationships in this story. What do they have to say about the idea of love and its ability to heal and to hurt?

Essay Topic 3

The vase becomes a symbolic item in this story, with its glorious return to the family, then its breaking, repair, and then eventual demise.

Part 1: What is the story of the vase's return to the family?

Part 2: How does the vase become broken in the first place?

Part 3: What does the breaking and repair of the case seem to symbolize in relation to the relationship between Robbie and Cecilia?

(see the answer keys)

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