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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 adjective best describes the narrator and Cordelia on the streetcar?

2. What relationship does Cordelia have to the narrator?

3. How old is the narrator in the book's first flashback?

4. Does the narrator think she'd recognize Cordelia today?

5. What has someone drawn on the poster for her art exhibit that Elaine sees?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the result of Elaine's mother's miscarriage?

2. In the last chapter, what does Elaine realize about the day she fell into the ravine?

3. How do Elaine's parents feel about Stephen's death?

4. Why doesn't Jon want to come to Elaine's art show?

5. What does the narrator imagine Cordelia inside of?

6. How does Elaine behave during the interview?

7. What does Elaine think of Ben when she first meets him?

8. How does Elaine react whenever someone asks her for money?

9. How does Elaine react to moving to Toronto when she is eight?

10. What is Elaine's opinion of Susie, in her art class?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss criticism in the novel.

1) What does criticism of Elaine's art mean to her? How does she relate to the press and others that view and criticize her life and work as an artist?

2) What role does criticism play in Elaine's childhood relationship with Cordelia and her other friends? Where is the line between constructive criticism and abuse?

3) Why does Elaine become critical of others in high school? Why do Elaine and Cordelia spend their time criticizing others?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the culture of women in the book.

1) How does Elaine perceive other girls when she is young, before she has girl friends, and what is her perception of her first girl friends?

2) How does the culture of women in the book differ from the culture of men? How is Elaine a different person with women than with men?

3) How does Elaine interact with women as an adult, and how does this relate to her early experiences with other girls?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the significance of time in the book.

1) What is Elaine's attitude toward time? How does she think of time, and why does she think of it this way?

2) How does Elaine's perception of time differ from Stephen's perception of time?

3) How is time portrayed in the novel? How is time in the novel symbolic?

4) How does time relate to memory in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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