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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. Who hallucinates of poison falling from the sky?

2. Why does Manfred's father hang Manfred out the window?

3. How does Manfred's mother react as his father dies?

4. Why does Rolf confront Hanna?

5. What causes Manfred's father to become violent?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to a young couple who are in their car and who do the townspeople think is responsible?

2. How and why does Anton cull his violets?

3. Why does Hanna's mother feel guilty when she hears about Karin Baum's situation?

4. What did Rolf tell Hanna not to do?

5. How does Manfred's father endanger Manfred?

6. What does Manfred's father do with the money and then what does he ask his wife when he returns home?

7. What does Hanna do at the river when she is upset at her father?

8. How does the wife respond to her husband's request and what does Manfred do?

9. Why does a painter paint over Anton's bedroom window?

10. How does Rolf feel and what does he do about what Hanna tells him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1. What is foreshadow? How many incidences of foreshadow are in Floating in My Mother's Palm? How does foreshadow contribute to a book's suspense?

2. Discuss an example of foreshadow in Floating in My Mother's Palm including why you believe it is foreshadow. Include examples from the book and your own life to illustrate your answer.

3. How do you think most people react to uncertainty in their lives? Use examples from Floating in My Mother's Palm and your own live to support your opinion.

Essay Topic 2

There are a number of interesting questions raised by Floating in My Mother's Palm. Questions that Hegi most likely want readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Hegi's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Hegi's probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

4. Research the life of Hegi and see if/where her life may have influenced her writing.

Essay Topic 3

Hanna's grandmother is saved from death by a faith healer who massages darkness and pain out of her body that has little to do with the blood clot that is threatening her life. In this case, however, believing in something spiritual, in something impossible, seems to have spared Oma's life. Connected to this story is the story of Renate, the young friend of Hanna's with a polio damaged leg. Hanna uses Oma's story of the faith healer to attempt to fix Renate's leg. While the treatment does not change Renate's leg, it repairs their friendship which adds to Hanna's belief in the practice.

1. Discuss, in depth, why you think Hanna's grandmother was healed of the blood clot. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Why do you think Hanna attempting to heal Renate's leg restored their friendship? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Do you think a person who works to heal their emotional or past pains can have an effect on the body of that person? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 995 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample