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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. How did Stephanie's father die?

2. How long is Hanna's mother gone before she returns to see her family?

3. What does the narrator's lover do for a living in "Bone Density"?

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

5. What does Hanna do to signal to her husband that she is leaving him?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. How does Hanna feel about her husband Peter in the short story "How"?

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

8. How did Hanna and Laura first become friends?

9. Why does the narrator's mother in the story "A Pat" tell her to befriend the saddest and most desperate people?

10. Why is Natasha in "Break All the Way Down" repelled by dogs?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does the narrator in "The Mark of Cain" refrain from confronting either Caleb, her husband, or Jacob, her husband's twin brother, about the fact that they frequently trade places and pretend to be each other for lengthy periods of time? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing why the narrator has such difficulty fully trusting her lover in the story "Strange Gods." Why do you think the narrator finally comes around to accepting her partner's marriage proposal, on her partner's fifth attempt, at the end of the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 811 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample