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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 does Elaine's mother tell her to do?

2. Does Elaine like memorizing psalms for Sunday School?

3. What does Cordelia do after Elaine is sick from being in the cold water?

4. What part of the narrator's body is bloodied?

5. What is Ben's advice to Elaine about going to the art retrospective?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Elaine feel when she visits the new school?

2. How does Elaine feel when she sees her old school doesn't exist anymore?

3. Why do Jon and Elaine get married?

4. While Elaine is dating both Josef and Jon, how does she feel about the two men?

5. Describe how Elaine and Cordelia are different in biology class.

6. Describe how Stephen dies.

7. How does Cordelia act when Elaine's father comes to check on the girls watching the parade?

8. How does the narrator seem to feel about Cordelia during the first chapter of the novel?

9. How does Elaine's mother greet her after she comes out of the cold water?

10. What is Elaine's attitude toward marriage while she is dating Josef?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Elaine often feels herself growing stronger or weaker, empowered or powerless. Discuss the importance of power in the novel.

1) When is Elaine powerful, and when does she feel powerless? What gives Elaine power in the course of the novel?

2) How do Elaine and Cordelia use power over others?

3) What power does Elaine's art give her? Does Elaine recognize the power of her art?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of Elaine's art retrospective.

1) How does the art retrospective make Elaine look back on her life? How is her artwork related to the progression of her life?

2) How does Elaine feel about the art retrospective, and why does she feel this way? How does she feel about her paintings and about her career as an artist?

3) Why does Elaine want her pictures presented chronologically?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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