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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 happened to Natasha's child in "Break All the Way Down"?

2. What went wrong in Hanna's father's life?

3. What is one part of Father Minty's job that he does not like?

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

5. How did Stephanie's father die?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Father Michael Patrick Minty not really know his father in the story" Bad Priest"?

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

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

4. Why does the narrator in "Open Marriage" seem confident her husband will not follow through on his aspirations to have affairs with other women?

5. What does Natasha finally do that her husband has repeatedly been asking her to do at the end of "Break All the Way Down"?

6. Where does the stone thrower first meet his glass wife in the story "Requiem for a Glass Heart"?

7. What does Teresa tell Stephanie that surprises her at the end of the story "In the Event of My Father's Death"?

8. What does the narrator of "Bone Density" find in her husband's suitcase that confirms her knowledge that he is having an affair?

9. How did Hanna and Laura first become friends?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the story "I Will Follow You," Savvie knows exactly what her sister Carolina means when she says she married Darryl because she would be no good to a really good man, and Darryl is not a really bad man. Write an essay explaining how the trauma and abuse of Savvie's and Carolina's childhood abduction affects each of their adult relationships with men and with each other.

Essay Topic 2

In the story "La Negra Blanca," what does the character Alvarez symbolize? How does Alvarez's status as an undocumented immigrant affect Sarah's decision not to go to the police after William Livingston rapes her? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text.

Essay Topic 3

In several stories, including "North Country," "Break All the Way Down," and "Strange Gods," stillbirth or the sudden, tragic loss of a very young child are recurring themes. Write an essay analyzing how Gay uses the topic of grief over a child's death to develop the main characters in several of her stories, citing specific examples to the text in your answer.

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