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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. For what is Siegfried searching?

2. What does Siegfried do as a result of the dream?

3. What does Hanna's mother give Hanna's father?

4. What is Siegfried Tegern's occupation?

5. What does Hanna's father continually remind Hanna's mother not to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Trudi treated as a child?

2. What does Trudi call Hanna's father's actions concerning his marriage and what does Hanna think about that?

3. How does Siegfried ultimately die?

4. Who is Klara Blocker?

5. What does Matthias do about Hanna's suggestion about the man who visits him?

6. What does Matthias tell Hanna about his life as a priest in training?

7. What does the narrator's mother learn when she returns to the convent after starting labor?

8. Who is Siegfried Tegern and what does he dream?

9. What happens to Hanna's paternal grandmother and how does she cope?

10. How is Oma healed of the second blood clot?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in Floating in My Mother's Palm. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of love in Floating in My Mother's Palm. Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to possess courage? Why?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of death in Floating in My Mother's Palm.

Essay Topic 2

Titles often play a vital role in making a person decide to read a particular book. Discuss the following:

1. Fully explain why you think Floating in My Mother's Palm is titled as such. Do you think it is the best title for the book? Why or why not? Can you think of a better title? Why would you choose it?

2. How important is a title in influencing you to consider reading a book? Explain your answer.

3. Do you think a title needs to have direct relevance to a book's content? Explain your answer.

4. Have you ever read a book that when you finished, you do not understand the relevance of the title? Does it discourage you from "trusting" that particular author again?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the following:

1. Who is/are the protagonists of Floating in My Mother's Palm and why?

2. Who is/are the antagonists of the story and why?

3. Which 3 secondary characters have the greatest impact on the plot?

4. Are any of the characters dispensable and which ones? Why or why not?

5. Do you think this is a character-driven plot or an action-driven plot? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 888 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample