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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 aspect of cooking does Plum love the most?

2. When Verena begins to pay a salary to Plum, how much does she make, compared to her salary working as Kitty's ghostwriter?

3. For what length of time has Sana lived at The Calliope House before she meets Plum?

4. What object does Plum steal from Verena's desk just before she flees from The Calliope House in her new white poplin dress?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe "the Jennifer effect" (231) and its implications.

2. What personal advice does Julia offer to Plum during their conversation in Plum's bedroom and how does Plum react?

3. What is the significance of Plum's response to the little girl on the bus who tells her mother to "look at that big lady" (233)?

4. How does the theme of misplaced female envy come into play within the author's depiction of Plum's dream about being skinny?

5. What is the author's purpose for including the reporter Cheryl Crane-Murphy's remark, "As a committed Christian, it pains me to admit that I feel nothing but glee at the death of these pigs" (155)?

6. What is the significance of Plum's ultrasound image?

7. What is the author's purpose for including a call from the bariatric surgery office right after what Plum terms to be "a perfect trip to the mall" (237)?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the many instances of irony within the novel's narrative and analyze the author's purpose for including each instance you discuss.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the author's use of humor alongside humanist messages within the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the interplay between the resolution of the novel and the author's choice of narrator to relay the narrative. How does the author employ each and how does their juxtaposition help the author get across a main message of the novel?

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