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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What color are Michael's mother's glasses described as in "The Murderer Wasn't Always a Murderer"?
(a) Green.
(b) Red.
(c) Blue.
(d) Black.

2. Where did Michael live when he and Penelope began seeing one another?
(a) Fairway Street.
(b) Pepper Street.
(c) Riverview Street.
(d) Archer Street.

3. In describing her father to Michael in "The Lives Before They Had Us" Penelope told him, "I grew up with the statue of" whom (193)?
(a) Hitler.
(b) Stalin.
(c) Mussolini.
(d) Lenin.

4. How old was Michael when he looked up Albert Einstein and found him to be inspiring?
(a) 9.
(b) 5.
(c) 8.
(d) 11.

5. What color was Abbey Hanley's hair?
(a) Black.
(b) Red.
(c) Brown.
(d) Blonde.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the youngest of the Dunbar brothers?

2. What book did Clay know Carey Novac was reading in "The Forces are Displayed"?

3. What river runs past the town of Silver?

4. What was the first thing Penelope bought after arriving in Australia?

5. Who was the employer of Michael's mother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the symbolic significance of Clay's lighter?

2. How did Michael propose to Penelope? How did she respond?

3. What did Clay do after reading through the stacks of his father's plans while Michael was at the mining site in Part 4?

4. How is Penelope's childhood described? Who raised her?

5. How is the mood developed in Part 1? What mood is evoked?

6. Discuss the structure of the novel. How is the story related?

7. Where did Penelope go after fleeing the Eastern Bloc as a refugee?

8. How did Michael and Penelope meet? What were their first impressions of each other?

9. How did the relationship between Penelope and Michael begin?

10. Who are the Dunbar sons and what are their basic qualities?

(see the answer keys)

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