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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 old was Materia when she first met James?

2. Which of the following medals does James receive when he is discharged from duty?

3. When her father is gone, how does Kathleen treat her younger sisters?

4. During his deployment, how long will James be away from his family?

5. What is the first thing Frances eats when her hunger strike is over?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the response to Kathleen's first public singing recital?

2. What does James do for a living?

3. How does James react when Kathleen sneaks up behind him and strikes a chord while his is tuning a piano?

4. What is James obsessed with during his deployment, and how does that fuel his future upon returning home?

5. What terrible decision is Materia forced into when she helps her daughter Kathleen give birth to twins?

6. How does Kathleen react when Teresa Taylor, the Mahmoud's maid, pays the Piper family a visit?

7. What makes James a good bootlegger?

8. What is the Mahmoud family's reaction to Kathleen's death?

9. Who is Mrs. Luvovitz?

10. What is James's reaction when he realizes that someone has moved the stones around Ambrose's grave?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One major theme of the novel is the parallels between the daughters' sexual awakenings. Choose two of the Piper daughters and describe their sexual awakenings. How old were they when they had their sexual awakenings? Did these experiences have a positive or negative effect on their lives? How did these awakenings come about? Then, explain what message you think MacDonald is sending to the reader about the sexual awakening of young girls. Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Describe Mercedes' personal ambitions in life. What did she hope would happen to her when she was an adult? In what ways did she work toward those goals? Then, explain what happened to Mercedes when she was an adult. Did her dreams come to fruition? Why or why not? Finally, describe the sacrifice Materia made to ensure that Mercedes have a safe and bright future. In the end, do you think that sacrifice was worth it? Why or why not? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your argument.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the event of Frances baptizing the twins down by the river. Throughout the novel, the events are told from Frances, Mercedes, and James's perspectives. How do these perspectives of events differ? How are they same? What is gained is experiencing the events through three different perspectives? What is lost? Why do you think MacDonald chose to rewrite these events three times? What message is she trying to send about this event and its effects on the family? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

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