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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 is one of the things Milly is good at?

2. Who is Hanna's mother?

3. What does Milly look like in the story "Best Features"?

4. What does the stone thrower's wife most enjoy about her day?

5. Who is Natasha's husband in "Break All the Way Down"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the narrator's husband, David, concerned about in relation to the narrator's health in the story "Bone Density"?

2. What does the reader learn about the stone thrower through the eyes of his glass wife at the end of the story?

3. What unique ability do Hanna and Anna share?

4. Why does Hanna drive to the college town nearby and invite sexual encounters with college-aged boys in secret?

5. What is appealing to Rebekah about her affair with Father Michael?

6. What does the stone thrower's wife enjoy most about her days?

7. What Bible story did Nora Minty, Father Michael's mother, tell to Father Michael many times?

8. What helps to bring Natasha and Ben back together in "Break All the Way Down"?

9. What secret of her own does the narrator keep from her unfaithful husband David in "Bone Density"?

10. Why is Natasha in the story "Break All the Way Down" in her relationship with the man she calls her boyfriend?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing the tone Gay strikes in the story "I am a Knife." In this story, the narrator has suffered the traumatic loss of a baby and is later called upon to help save her twin sister's baby during childbirth, and there is a moment when it is unclear whether the narrator is worthy of the trust her twin sister places in her as the narrator holds her life in her hands. Cite specific references to the text in explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 2

In the story "Baby Arm," how is the fact that the narrator deliberately maintains an emotional detachment from her boyfriend, Gus, related to her attraction to the fight club that she organizes with Tate? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text.

Essay Topic 3

In the story "Water, All Its Weight," both Bianca's parents and her husband eventually abandon her because of the rot and decay that accompany her wherever she goes. Write an essay exploring how Bianca seems to handle being abandoned by the people closest to her at different stages of her life.

(see the answer keys)

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