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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. Which of Beth's patients is awaiting a kidney transplant?

2. What does Frannie decide that she will call herself based on her new name?

3. What injury has Bobby inflicted on Frannie that has made her decide to leave him?

4. What does Robert ask his mother at this location?

5. What has Beth seen in Robert that reminds her of Bobby?

Short Essay Questions

1. Mrs. Levitt's lifestyle reminds Frannie of what?

2. How does Beth begin to feel about Mike as their friendship deepens?

3. Why is Beth hesitant to allow Robert to go off by himself in the grocery store?

4. What preparations are made for Robert to go to his new school?

5. What does Frannie decide for her new life with a new identity?

6. What is Beth's new job and why is she relieved to have it?

7. Why are Frannie and Robert waiting at a train station in Philadelphia?

8. Why can Beth not entertain ideas of what a life without Bobby might have meant for her?

9. Why does Beth worry that Robert may be more like Bobby than she would like him to be?

10. How does Frannie first encounter Patty Bancroft?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Quindlen is a master at dramatic devices. Choose an example of symbolism, metaphors, and irony, briefly describe each and identify the technique which each represents.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the role of women in America in the 1990s when the women in the novel are living their lives. What precedents do they feel compelled to follow? What restrictions do they have? What freedoms did they have that 21st century women do not?

Essay Topic 3

The author uses more than one iteration on the theme of disappointment. Identify at least two characters who either embody or experience disappointment; then cite an example to support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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