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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 unexpected item does Marlowe bring to her meeting with Plum?

2. What is the name of the reporter that Plum describes as being on television all day with Jennifer coverage, "as if she were covering a war" (156)?

3. Marlowe tells Plum that she should have learned from Kitty by now that "being a woman means being a" (144) what?

4. On what part of Marlowe's body is her tattoo that reads, "Women don't want to be me, men don't want to fuck me" (133)?

5. What is the name of Marlowe's infant son?

Short Essay Questions

1. To what television show is Plum alluding when she enters Victoria Secret and knows that she is "raising eyebrows" (234)?

2. What does Plum mean when she says, "After years of not fighting back, I was coiled like a snake" (233)?

3. What does Plum see while following Kitty into a coffeehouse that stops Plum in her tracks?

4. How is allusion used within the scene when Sana and Plum discuss Plum's fears that her longing for Alicia will return?

5. How does the author employ foreshadowing within the passage when Kitty calls Plum at home and asks her to come to Austen Media?

6. What is the story behind Marlowe's tattoo that reads, "Women don't want to be me, men don't want to fuck me" (133)?

7. What does Plum mean when she says that she will become "a different type of outlaw" (243)?

8. What does Marlowe mean when she says that the day her show was canceled was the best day of her life?

9. Who does Plum call when Verena tells Plum to call anyone who will notice she is missing once she moves into The Calliope House? What do her choices reveal about her life prior to connecting with the women of The Calliope House?

10. Discuss Plum's comments about her ability to be "like the lilac negligee woman" (234) from the lingerie ads or like Leeta.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the novel Dietland from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 2

Look carefully at the passages of the novel that describe Plum's responses to the teenage girls who write questions to Kitty. What is the author's purpose for discussing at length the nature of Plum's role as a ghostwriter for Kitty?

Essay Topic 3

Trace the characterization arc of Plum’s character throughout the novel. Discuss whether she is a round or flat character and whether she is a static or dynamic character.

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