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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. Where does Ellen hide on New Year's Day while she waits for her father and his friends to leave her house?

2. Why doesn't Ellen tell anyone about her problems with her father?

3. One day Ellen is given an inkblot test. What does Ellen call the inkblots?

4. What item spills out of Ellen's mother's purse?

5. What entertainment activity does Ellen's father entertain his guests with on New Year's Eve?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the funeral, why does Ellen avoid looking at her mother's grave?

2. Why does Ellen feel that her relatives are phonies?

3. The author never indicates the time period of when the events in Ellen's life are taking place. How can one tell from the context about clues that Ellen's story happens in fairly modern times?

4. What are some of the fun and leisure activities Ellen is granted in her new home?

5. How does the author create a reversal of the mother-daughter role in the novel?

6. How is Ellen's grandmother's removal of Ellen's mother's clothes symbolic to the story?

7. Up to Chapter 7, what are some of the ways Ellen covers up for her father?

8. How does Ellen's grandmother cause a scene at the funeral?

9. In what ways does Ellen justify not telling anyone about the circumstances of her mother's death?

10. In Chapter 2, how does Ellen hint at favoritism towards her mother's family?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

List and discuss several ways that Ellen's character evolved throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Using details from the text and in-class research, describe how Ellen was mature, or immature, for her age.

Essay Topic 3

In several instances in the text, Ellen tries to control the small things around her. Why does Ellen need to control these things?

(see the answer keys)

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