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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 does the author suggest meeting in a bowling alley is a good metaphor for Micheal's relationship with Gina?

2. What makes Aloha Lanes unique in the Greenwood Avenue neighborhood where it stands?

3. What were Irma and her daughter doing the day the Germans came and took them away?

4. Who offers to help Michael and Gina with baby Wanda?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does the author draw parallels between Wanda Schultz and M.J. Striker in part two?

4. What is Yeats and what does it stand for in Striker's life?

5. What character seems to tell Striker how he can pull Irma out of her depression in chapter 21?

6. Why is Michael forced to quit college after marrying Gina?

7. In the beginning of Part Two, how does the narration change?

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

9. What car accident does Striker witness in chapter 22? How is this ironic?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did Margaret's son die? How did this death impact Margaret's life? Why did she become a recluse? Why does Margaret treat the objects in her home as though they are alive and a part of her family? Where did some of these objects come from? How does this knowledge affect Margaret? What does Margaret eventually do with these items? How does this inspire Wanda to become a collage artist? How does this change Margaret and Wanda's lives?

Essay Topic 2

What is the star? How has it changed Margaret's life? When does it begin to grow? Who does Margaret begin to see as the star begins to grow? How does Wanda react to news of Margaret's illness? How does Margaret feel about Wanda's reaction? How long does Margaret live after the star begins to grow? What happens to her house and her roommates after her death?

Essay Topic 3

Who is Gina? Why does she marry Michael? Why does she insist that she cannot have children? What happens when she does have a child? How does Michael respond to his wife's inability to deal with their child? How does Michael respond when Gina leaves him and his daughter? Why did Michael put his entire life on hold for this one woman? Where has his search for Gina taken Michael? To which character does Michael's obsession with his wife compare? How do they compare?

(see the answer keys)

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