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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 is Lilly concerned for Benny?

2. What is the close call Jack and Nan have in Knockglen?

3. What are Benny and Heather doing when Heather asks about the boy Benny had been dieting for?

4. Why is Heather so pleased with the praise she gets for her part in the Easter pageant?

5. Why does Nan invite Benny to lunch at the Hibernian?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Benny get home to Knockglen after the news arrives that her father has died?

2. How does Jack show his naivety after being at the cottage three times with Nan?

3. What foils Nan's plans to tell Jack she is pregnant at Eve's cottage?

4. What is Jacks suggestion to Benny when they can go around together in Dublin?

5. How does Sean manipulate an invitation to the Hogan's house for Christmas?

6. What do Benny and Annabel learn about the lawyer?

7. On their date at the restaurant, what romantic thing takes place?

8. Thinking about Jack and Nan, how close does Benny come to the real truth?

9. What is the resolution for Benny at the end of the novel?

10. What advice of Nan's does Benny use to dissuade her father from walking her to Eve's party and coming to collect her later?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on Paying the Piper. The essay should center on Jack. Three main points are his looks and athletic ability that have many girls around him all the time; his failure to seduce Benny and substituting the opportunistic Nan; followed by his loss of Benny. Conclude with the generality that people pay for their mistakes.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on Rising to the Occasion. Use the character of Annabel in three phases--first, as a dutiful housewife and subservient to her husband Eddie; second, as a devastated widow ill prepared to manage life without a husband; and third, as a businesswoman, changed and confident as she learns to manage the business.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on Empathy. Mother Francis is the most empathetic character in the novel. Discuss in your essay the different ways she deals with Eve, Kit, and Heather. Conclude with an evaluation of empathizing with people's particular problems.

(see the answer keys)

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