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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 is Sidney?

2. Which Coronation guest is George's sibling?

3. Where is George during the baby's birth?

4. At which family member does the baby smile in Chapter Two?

5. What book do the girls play they are in?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Bunty "torn" at the beginning of Chapter Three?

2. How does the narrator feel about the night nursery in the hospital?

3. Why does Nell keep the children from leaving for the train station?

4. How do the girls spend the first day of Bunty's disappearance?

5. What happens to Lawrence?

6. How was Jack killed?

7. What "improvements" does Rachel make to the Barker family and home after she arrives to help out?

8. How are the babies fed?

9. What causes Nell to faint in Footnote (ii)?

10. What happens to Frederick Barker?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kate Atkinson has said that this novel is about cupboards. How is that so?

Essay Topic 2

Choose at least two of the main conflicts of "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" and discuss their development through the novel. Which characters are involved? How are they resolved? What commentary is Atkinson making through them?

Essay Topic 3

Several times throughout the novel, Ruby says, "I am a precious jewel. I am a drop of blood. I am Ruby Lennox." What is the significance of these sentences, and why are they repeated throughout the book?

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