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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 type of poetry was Mary studying when she first met her husband, Barkev?

2. Which of the women in the book are looking for "symmetrical relationships"?

3. According to Bateson, what do humans tend to believe about society?

4. Which of the following metaphors runs through the entire first chapter of the text?

5. Which of the following adjectives did NOT describe Ellen when she was giving a lecture at the Bunting colloquium, which Mary attended?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does it mean for one to compose their life as an "emergent vision"?

2. How did Johnnetta's experiences in Cuba change her opinion of race and society?

3. According to Bateson, what do humans tend to believe about society?

4. How do Joan and Erik collaborate on each other's professional projects?

5. According to Bateson, what role do successful parents play in ensuring, or deterring, the success of their daughters?

6. How does Mary use the metaphor of a "crazy quilt" to explain society?

7. What major breakthrough did Ellen make in her field of psychology?

8. How did Johnnetta use her academic experience to change the definition of what it meant to live "as a black woman"?

9. According to Johnnetta, what does the term "tweeded" mean in academia?

10. What struggles did Ellen note in the way ERs in Boston organized their time schedules?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the opening of the text, author Mary Catherin Bateson discusses the ways the role of women in the household has changed in today's modern times. First, describe the traditional role of women. Then, compare and contrast that role to the role Bateson describes as the role of the "modern" woman. Finally, choose one woman whose life is explored in the text and describe how that woman's life emulates Bateson's modern woman. Do you think this woman is happy in her improvisational life? Why or why not? Be sure to include examples from the text to help strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel, Bateson describes, in detail, the marriages of five women. What stresses does Bateson claim complicate a marriage, particularly as illustrated in the marriages explored in the text? Choose two marriages and describe the stresses that have affected the foundation of these marriages, and the solutions Bateson gives for these women, and others, to balance the stress of romance, homebuilding, and a professional life. Be sure to include examples from the text to help strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel, Bateson struggles to balance her definitions of marriage and partnership, particularly in relation to societal definitions of the same relationships. First, describe Bateson's definition of a perfect marriage. How does this marriage compare/contrast to Bateson's definition of a perfect partnership? In your opinion, is it possible to have both a perfect marriage and perfect partnership by Bateman's definitions? Why or why not? Finally, compare/contrast Bateman's definition of marriage with society's definition of marriage. In your opinion, will these two definitions ever merge? Why or why not? Be sure to include examples from the text to help strengthen your arguments.

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