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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. In the essay "A Tale of Three Coming Out Stories," a son of a lesbian couple testifies in their defense. In what state did that couple live?

2. In the essay "Garish, Glorious Spectacles," who is the noted as the main character in the novel Green Girl?

3. According to the essay "The Trouble with Prince Charming," what literary classification applies to the Fifty Shades of Grey series?

4. In the essay "Girls, Girls, Girls," what group of people are often left out of popular cultures (such as television shows and films)?

5. What HBO television series created by Lena Dunham does Gay analyze in the essay "Girls, Girls, Girls"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Gay suggest that readers are not to like the character Countess Olenska, as referenced in the essay "Not Here to Make Friends"?

2. In the essay "Garish, Glorious Spectacles," Gay references the novel Play It as It Lays and introduces the female protagonist Maria. How does Maria relate her experience of motherhood?

3. In the essay "Girls, Girls, Girls," why does Gay fall so hard for the television show "Girlfriends"?

4. In "To Scratch, Claw, or Grope Clumsily or Frantically," how does Gay beat her nemesis the first time?

5. In the essay "What We Hunger For," why does Gay admire the Hunger Games character Katniss?

6. In the essay "What We Hunger For," why is Gay afraid to say no to her boyfriend?

7. In the essay "Some Jokes Are Funnier Than Others," why did the class clown get in trouble?

8. IIn the essay "Beyond the Measure of Men," what does Gay say about female writers and the aspects of publishing over which they have control?

9. In the essay "Dear Young Ladies Who Love Chris Brown," what does Gay predict will happen to his behavior?

10. In "To Scratch, Claw, or Grope Clumsily or Frantically," how does Gay respond when she hears all the rules to the game?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Most of the essays entail both personal experience and external evidence. Write an essay analyzing the author's choices to balance personal and societal information in the collection. How does her inclusion of both affect the narrative tone?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay explaining the author's choice to write individual essays on a variety of different topics instead of one cohesive subject. What purpose does the narrative structure serve in developing and strengthening her concept of "bad feminism"?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay explaining the author's narrative tone toward the cult of beauty and thinness, citing textual examples from her essay "Reaching for Catharsis." How does she feel about the unrealistic standards of beauty and body placed on women by society?

(see the answer keys)

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