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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. Kyle has to spend the day in what city on Thanksgiving?

2. Whom does Autumn decide she wants to meet after talking with Trey after the wedding?

3. What does Summer hide from her new foster family in order to keep in touch with Kyle?

4. Hunter wakes early to do a remote radio show at which location after Thanksgiving?

5. What were Hunter's parents taking when he was conceived?

Short Essay Questions

1. What leads to the greatest increase in instability for Summer's character in the novel? How does she feel about her situation?

2. Where do Summer and Kyle go after running away in the novel? What are their plans?

3. Describe the day of Cora's wedding in the novel. Who arrives and what confrontations take place?

4. What stops Hunter from taking the pills at the "pharm party" in the novel? When does he take them?

5. What major discoveries does Hunter gain from his two fathers in the novel? How do these discoveries change his character?

6. What encounter does Hunter have at the Sparks Hometown Christmas Parade in the novel? Who advises him against his actions?

7. What happens after Nikki discovers Hunter's infidelity in the novel? Where does Hunter move?

8. What confrontations does Summer have with her mother and father after her father spends the weekend in jail in the novel?

9. What leads Autumn to begin drinking in the novel? Where does this first show to be a problem?

10. What is foreshadowed by Autumn's illness in the novel? Who suggests a potential cause for the illness?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss Autumn's relationship with her aunt and grandfather in the novel. How has Autumn's childhood illustrated greater stability than those of her siblings? What does Autumn know about her father and how does she feel about his abandonment?

Essay Topic 2

Describe, analyze and discuss the narrative structure of the novel. How is the novel nontraditional in its separation of chapters and in its narrative voice? Is the plot structure traditional or non-traditional? Where does the rising action in the novel take place? Where is the climax?

Essay Topic 3

Define and discuss the motif of journeys in the novel. What characters take a physical journey during the holidays? What does each of these journeys represent symbolically and psychologically for the characters?

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This section contains 946 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample