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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. Why does Michael stop sending postcards to Maureen to let her know where he was in chapter 19?

2. What does Striker hear as he continues to walk to Aloha Lanes at the end of chapter 22?

3. What role does Striker imagine himself playing in the midst of a car accident at the end of chapter 22?

4. How many Schultz children are their at the time in which Michael and Gina first meet?

5. Who does Michael take Gina to meet early in their relationship?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author draw parallels between Striker and Irma concerning their painful pasts?

2. How does Striker celebrate Easter in chapter 22?

3. Why does Gina become pregnant soon after marrying Michael even though she has told him she does not wish to have children?

4. What symbolic item is mentioned in chapter 18 that is related to a similar item symbolically important to Wanda Schultz?

5. What picture does Striker have of his wife and how does this connect him with Wanda Schultz?

6. What odd behaviors on the part of Gina Lorenzini does Michael O'Casey overlook due to his amorous feelings for her?

7. What story does Irma Kosminsky tell Striker over dinner in chapter 21?

8. How does Wanda's knowledge of her parents' relationship compare with what Striker has revealed to the reader in part two of the novel?

9. How does Striker feel about religion, as the reader learns in chapter 21?

10. Why does Michael leave his daughter and go in search of his missing wife in chapter 19?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is Irma Kosminsky? How does she become acquainted with Michael? Why does Michael initially refuse to take her Hawaiian shirt? What happens to cause Michael to take the shirts after all? What is the nature of the relationship between Michael and Irma? Why does this relationship change the way in which Michael has recently been living his life? Is this a good change? Where does the reader suspect this relationship is headed? How does the author foreshadow the end of this relationship?

Essay Topic 2

Who is Detective Tink Lorenzini? Why does Wanda insist on taking on this persona? For what purpose? Who is Troy? How does Troy react to Wanda's desire to find Peter? Why does Wanda rush across the street in chapter 16? Who did she think she saw? Who did she really see? What happens to Wanda? Why does she refuse to speak after her recovery has begun? What does this say about Wanda's state of mind? How does this impact the people around her?

Essay Topic 3

Who is Wanda Schultz? Why is she so depressed? What happened to Wanda's ex-lover? What happened to Wanda's parents? Why was Wanda adopted? What does Wanda do for a career? What does Margaret call Wanda? Why? Why does Wanda keep searching for her ex-lover? What happens when Troy tries to help her? Who did Wanda really see when she thought she saw Peter? How is Wanda injured? Why does she refuse to speak?

(see the answer keys)

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