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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. How many children do Ruby and Gian-Carlo have?

2. What game does Ruby play by herself the evening before the fire?

3. Who has been staying with Bunty while Ruby makes her way home in Chapter Thirteen?

4. What kind of flowers do Patricia and Ruby leave for Pearl?

5. What is Sister Blake's real name?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens at the Chinese restaurant?

2. Describe Patricia as she is in 1964.

3. How does the fight at the wedding begin?

4. Why does Tom laugh when his hand is blown off?

5. What does Ruby witness on Easter Sunday?

6. How does Ruby discover she had a twin sister?

7. What is the basic tenet of Ruby's Lost Property Cupboard theory of the afterlife?

8. Why does Tom usually visit his sisters without his wife?

9. What is Ruby's "reward" for her morning minding the pet Shop by herself?

10. Why does Bunty abandon the ironing so suddenly the night of the fire?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

One of the themes in "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" is the loss of children. Using at least three examples, discuss how Atkinson develops this theme throughout the story and its impact on the characters involved.

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