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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. For what reason does Plum reject her father's offer for her to come visit him in Boise?

2. What does Verena offer to give to Plum if Plum follows what Verena calls "the New Baptist Plan" (92)?

3. What types of meetings does Plum attend in the basement of a church?

4. At what time of day does Plum say she usually "slips into despair" (12) each day?

5. When Verena asks Plum what would happen if she is already living her real life and will never lose weight, what is Plum's reply?

Short Essay Questions

1. What quality of The Calliope House does Verena say had made her choose it as the location for her feminist collective?

2. How does the author portray Eulayla Baptist's husband Allen as playing a major role in her torturous weight loss plan?

3. What question does Julia ask when she writes to Plum under the guise of being a teenage fan of Kitty's and what is the result of her question?

4. How does the motif of the italicized word "Burst!" (42) coincide with the theme of self-hatred?

5. What is the significance of the news story about Jayson Fox, the young rap star from Los Angeles?

6. The night before the murders of Michael Simmons and Davis Green, Dr. Ormond Brown receives an email. What does the email contain and what is the author's implication about who has sent it?

7. Discuss the significance of Plum's clothing organization choices in the first part of the novel.

8. How does Janine's outburst at the Baptist Diet meeting foreshadow Plum's own coming changes?

9. What information does Julia reveal about Leeta during her first meeting with Plum?

10. What allusion is being made within the line, "On top of a cabinet, a large orchid was trapped under a bell jar" (85) and what is the author's purpose for using it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the novel's message concerning the link between mental and physical health?

Essay Topic 2

How is the topic of discovery treated within the novel and how does its treatment relate to the book's repeated allusions to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland?

Essay Topic 3

What is the author's message regarding motherhood and what themes does the author employ in order to send these messages to the reader?

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