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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. In what country was Erik, Joan's husband, born?

2. What does Mary claim is the result of changing one's identity?

3. According to Mary, why don't women go home to relax?

4. What do the roadblocks of separation and division hinder a woman from doing?

5. What is the key to organizing multiple lives at once?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the main difference between men and women in regards to "multiple lives"?

2. What is Mary's definition of wisdom?

3. What prompted Mary's identity crisis after high school?

4. How does Johnnetta feel about the need to divide her time between her private and personal lives?

5. Historically, what members of society usually take the role of caretakers?

6. What leads Mary to the statement that all five of the women profiled in the book are "idealists"?

7. In what way does Mary compare caretaking to music?

8. How is the Project Hope homeless shelter different than the Pine Street Inn?

9. What type of food did Mary cook for Barkev when they were first married?

10. How did Mary's views about discontinuity change as she completed this book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In what ways is wisdom gained through life? Mary has very specific ideas about how one becomes "wise". Explain those ideas in a brief essay using one of the women in the book as an example. What path did this woman take in her pursuit of wisdom? What different types of wisdom did she gain? Do you think all her efforts were consciously in the pursuit of wisdom? How can you tell? Be sure to include examples from the text to help strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Food becomes an important centerpiece for Mary to explore the roles of women in the household. First, describe the relationship Mary has to food, particularly the preparation of food, and compare that to the relationship one other woman in the book has with food. How does Mary think food affects the role of women in the household, and how does she think food should be represented in our western culture? Do you agree with Mary's arguments? Why or why not? Be sure to include examples from the text to help strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

All of the women in the novel struggle with their roles as women in the workplace. Choose two women from the text and explain how their gender affects their role in the workplace. In what ways do gender-inequalities keep the women in the book down? In what ways do the women in the book use these inequalities for their advantage? In the end, what message do you think Bateson is sending to young female readers about their value in the workplace? Be sure to include examples from the text to help strengthen your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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