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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 was notable about Nancy's family as she was growing up?

2. Nancy got pregnant by a boy named ______________ who wanted her to have an abortion.

3. Who was Nancy's husband?

4. Carolyn Ann Adams' story is organized into two chapters --The Right to Remain Silent and ____________________.

5. Who was the man who owned the accounting firm where Nancy had a temp job?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Nancy begin her story with a memory of her father and his airplane?

2. What was Wally's reasoning for not being able to refuse Marge Cohen's call to come to York Correctional Institution?

3. How did Nancy describe Isadore's life?

4. Why was Wally originally asked to come to the York Correctional Institution in 1999?

5. How did Nancy describe the summer she worked for Isadore?

6. What did Nancy feel she had to do to keep her boyfriend?

7. Who was Aldo and what influence did he have on Nancy's life?

8. How did Tabatha's hair mirror what she was going through in different phases of her life and how did she wear her hair after five years in prison?

9. How did Tabatha describe the attic where her family and friends did drugs?

10. When did Wally Lamb know that he wanted to be a teacher, and in which type of students was he particularly interested?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The theme of struggling with personal identity is an important one in this book. Describe how it extends through setting, characters and issues and provide examples for each.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the impact of intolerance or injustice that some of the women of color experienced. What did it mean to be poor and not white in 20th century America? What stigmas did these women of color live with for their entire lives? Was there anything that could have leveled the racial discrimination playing field? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Choose three characters from different stories, and then project into the future ten years and write a brief synopsis for their lives. Be sure to include geography, marital status, work, socialization, incarceration, etc.

(see the answer keys)

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