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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 Elaine lie about the number of Valentines she got?

2. What job does Elaine's father get in Toronto?

3. What do the girls make with weed flowers, nightshade berries, leaves, and horse chestnuts?

4. Why does Elaine stop reciting the prayers at church?

5. The narrator thinks of time as having a what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Elaine feel about boys in eleventh grade?

2. Why do Jon and Elaine get married?

3. What does Carol look like?

4. How does Elaine try to frighten Cordelia in tenth grade?

5. Describe how Stephen dies.

6. Describe Elaine's experience when the girls leave her in the hole.

7. How does Elaine feel about Carol, Cordelia, and Grace when she sees them everyday after she starts sixth grade?

8. What is the major element of her life that Elaine comes to terms with at the end of the novel?

9. What is Stephen worried about, when Elaine goes to high school?

10. How does Elaine behave during the interview?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the portrayal of men in the book.

1) How are Elaine's lovers, Josef, Jon, and Ben, portrayed in the book? What is Elaine's attitude toward her lovers?

2) How do Elaine's relationships with men differ from her relationships with women? Why is Elaine more comfortable with men than with women?

3) How is Elaine's father portrayed in the book? How is her brother portrayed? How do her relationships with her father and brother affect her relationships with other men?

Essay Topic 2

Emotional pain in the novel is often linked to physical pain. Discuss the relationship of physical and emotional pain in the novel.

1) Why does Elaine injure her fingers and feet? How is her physical pain linked to emotional pain?

2) Discuss Elaine's experience of physical and emotional pain in times of crisis, such as when she is trapped in the ravine and when she is left in the dark hole.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Elaine's feelings toward Cordelia.

1) Why does Elaine always think she sees Cordelia, wherever she goes?

2) How is the reality of meeting Cordelia different from Elaine's fantasies about meeting Cordelia, and why?

3) Does Elaine have a realistic idea of what Cordelia is like? In what ways is Elaine's perception of Cordelia flawed, and in what ways is it accurate?

4) What are Elaine's positive and negative feelings toward Cordelia? Are the two women friends? Have they ever been friends?

(see the answer keys)

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