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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. Who was Eva's sister?

2. What is the setting for Chapter 1?

3. What did Eva's sister show to Dennis one night?

4. What does Mr. Holtzman's assistant think about the young woman?

5. Where did Billy meet Maeve?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the irony of Billy's stopping to see Dennis when he returns from Ireland.

2. What is the Long Island house and how did Dennis come to own it?

3. What insight does this chapter provide about Billy's character?

4. What was the fate of the Irish girl?

5. Who is the Irish girl?

6. How do Dennis and Billy meet the two sisters from Ireland?

7. What job do Dennis and Billy take on after they return from the war in 1945?

8. What arrangements has Dennis made to be at the Long Island house when Billy returns from Ireland in 1975?

9. What is the irony of Billy's alcoholism?

10. Where does Dennis take Billy to tell him the truth about Eva?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Alcohol abuse seems to be an unnamed character in the book. How pervasive is the abuse? Why does it have such a prevalent place in the characters' lives? How does it affect the abusers? How does it affect those impacted by the abusers? Explain how an inanimate object or characteristic can be a character.

Essay Topic 2

Create a character study of Maeve Lynch. What are her physical characteristics? What are her motivations? What are her fears? What are her dreams? What else can you say about Maeve?

Essay Topic 3

In keeping with the title of CHARMING BILLY, what exactly did Billy do to earn that title? Cite three examples that support Billy's charm. Why did the author name the book CHARMING BILLY instead of something more haunting and perhaps more fitting for Billy's life?

(see the answer keys)

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