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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. What is Howie's profession?

2. What kind of building does Gemma mention during her story in Chapter 2?

3. What has Sylvia always thought was the origin of Gemma's use of the name Dawn?

4. What had Becca's first article at her present job been about?

5. What is on top of Gemma's box of mementos?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Becca do in Chapter 2, which he sisters urge her not to?

2. How does Becca explain having never seen Gemma's carved box before in Chapter 8?

3. In Chapter 4, what do we learn about Gemma's past?

4. What does Becca's father remind her of when she says she is going to work in Chapter 8?

5. In Chapter 7, what does Gemma tell Becca she will probably lose interest in after she starts school?

6. What does Sylvia press Gemma for a definition for in Chapter 9?

7. What do Sylvia and Shana make fun of Becca for in Chapter 2?

8. Besides the document with an unknown name on it, what is inside the carved box which had belonged to Gemma?

9. What does Gemma tell her granddaughters about the baby born to the King and Queen in the story?

10. In Chapter 5, what frightens Becca's friend?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is an allegory? How is the novel "Briar Rose" an allegory of the sufferings experienced by those imprisoned in concentration and extermination camps during WWII?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and interpret the relationship between Becca and Stan. What do they feel for one another? How does their relationship evolve as the novel progresses? How does Stan help Becca on her quest for answers?

Essay Topic 3

Describe Becca's promise to her grandmother and her quest to follow through on her promise. What is the promise, and why is it so important that Becca find the answers she needs? How does she go about fulfilling her promise to Gemma?

(see the answer keys)

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