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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 breaks the tree in "The Branch"?

2. What does Sita buy at the pawn shop?

3. What kind of shop does the aunt own?

4. What color are Mary's eyes?

5. What is the name of the restaurant that Sita opens in chapter 7?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the empty jewel box in chapter 1 shape Mary's character?

2. Describe the appearance of the pawn shop and the objects Sita buys there in chapter 5.

3. What does Karl fantasize about his mother in chapter 3? Why?

4. Why does Karl make a note of the change on the table in chapter 6 when he and Wallace Pfef are having drinks?

5. Why does Karl run back to the train at the end of "The Branch"?

6. Describe the children's experience on the train in "The Branch."

7. Describe Sita's relationship with Jimmy in chapter 5.

8. Describe Chez Sita.

9. Why does Adelaide run to the airplane in chapter 1? How does this decision affect the children?

10. Explain the town's reaction to Mary's accident in the ice in chapter 2.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the author's use of flashbacks throughout the novel fill in the reader's sense of the characters' history? Choose one character and discuss his or her life prior to the novel, as expressed in flashbacks, and then explain how this method of conveying history is helpful or unhelpful to the reader.

Essay Topic 2

What does the rain at the end of the novel signify, and how does it compare to other symbols in the novel? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Explain the jewel box as a symbol for the various characters, including its significance when unopened, when opened, and later on in the novel when Sita takes it with her to Minneapolis.

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