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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 does the person who had a German officer as a lover now do?

2. Where do Thérèse and Léonie walk?

3. What does Thérèse do as she walks through the house?

4. What does Thérèse mix that she hasn't done in many years?

5. What does the specialist say about Antoinette's breast cancer?

Short Essay Questions

1. What story does Léonie tell Baptiste and what is his response?

2. Describe the nightmare with which the chapter "The Wall" opens.

3. What is foreshadowed in the chapter "The Baby Book"?

4. How do Therèse's actions in this chapter, "The Fish Kettle," foreshadow her decision to become a nun?

5. In the chapter, "The Holdall," how does what Léonie finds while going through Thérèse's things demonstrate the differences between the two women?

6. Describe Thérèse's first tour of the house as shown in "The Buffet." What is ironic about one of her thoughts?

7. What scene in the chapter, "The Camp Bed," suggests that the personal dynamics of the household is about to change?

8. How, in "The Dust," does Léonie's actions foreshadow her eventual life as wife and mother and living at the Martin property?

9. What is the implication of Madeleine scolding Thérèse for upsetting her father on his first day home?

10. To what do you think Léonie's dream in "The Red Suitcase," is related and of what do you think the suitcase is symbolic?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 9, Léonie is fascinated by the family photographs in the main salon. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Discuss the photographs that are mentioned throughout the novel and what they might imply about the persons in each picture.

2. Write an essay on the history of photography and how it has impacted one particular aspect of modern culture.

3. Why are humans fascinated with producing imagery, especially reproducing exact images of themselves and their environment? Do you think this is a way of obtaining immortality? How do you feel about photography and the pictures you have taken?

Essay Topic 2

The two main characters, Léonie and Thérèse, are cousins (or perhaps sisters), though, they are in some ways mirror opposites of each other...or are they. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. In what ways are Léonie and Thérèse complete opposites; give several examples and explain your choices.

2. In what ways are Léonie and Thérèse similar; give several examples and explain your choices.

3. Which cousin seems to be more "real"? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Chapters 21 and 22 demonstrates the complexity of the Léonie and Thérèse's relationship when they are girls. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Does Léonie and Thérèse's relationship seem more positive when they were children than as adults? Why or why not? Be sure to give specific examples to illustrate your stance.

2. Does the difference in Léonie and Thérèse's relationship as children versus adults have anything to do with the nature of friendships between children versus that of adults and upon what each group bases their friendships? Discuss.

3. In several chapters, there is a sexual innuendo that seems to be a part of Léonie and Thérèse's relationship as children. Do you agree with that statement--cite examples to support your stance? Do you think it is common for children of either the same sex or opposite sex to experiment with sex? Does this have any long-lasting effect upon their sexual orientation as adults? Did it in the case of Léonie and Thérèse?

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