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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 is Jeannette's baby's name, but no one calls him by that name?

2. In Chapter 8, how long is Teresa's flight from Los Angeles to Paris?

3. In Chapter 6, where is the man who cleans the swimming pool from?

4. In Chapter 8, how far is Holly's drive to the Lucerne airport?

5. In Chapter 7, who would Franny like to blame for the end of her relationship with Leo?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 6, where does Leo rent a house for the summer, and what is the house like?

2. What is the car like that Holly drives to pick up her mother from the airport in Chapter 8?

3. How does Jeannette describe Albie in Chapter 5?

4. In Chapter 5, how does Fode know that Albie is Jeannette's brother?

5. In Chapter 6, why does Leo struggle to make ends meet?

6. What does Holly do at the airport in Lucerne while she waits for her mother's flight to come from Paris?

7. How did Fix and Marjorie get their house in Santa Monica?

8. How does Albie say that Cal died?

9. In what way is Leo and Franny's relationship doomed even before the house guests in Chapter 6?

10. How did Bert and Teresa meet?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 1, the author uses imagery, rather than description, to create her characters and the world they live in. How is imagery used in Chapter 1 to develop characters, events, and the setting?

Essay Topic 2

The way that events are remembered is affected by point and view and also by the way that characters recall events. How does the retelling of Cal’s death demonstrate how point of view and character recall affect the way that events are remembered? What other events also demonstrate how point of view and character recall affect memory?

Essay Topic 3

The mood in the novel shifts as different stories are told. How does the author create mood in the novel and how does mood change from chapter to chapter? Does the book have an overall mood?

(see the answer keys)

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