View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Alice first return to the Big House years after leaving?
(a) To auction off Nonna's remaining possessions.
(b) For Uncle Billy's funeral.
(c) To visit Mother.
(d) For Nonna's funeral.

2. What does Alice want to draw?
(a) Mother, as she used to be.
(b) The desert at sunset.
(c) Her aunt and uncle, their hands, their glasses.
(d) Her future.

3. What does Alice ask Mother to sign in Part Four?
(a) A medical proxy form.
(b) A loan for Alice.
(c) A card for Uncle Billy.
(d) Bank business papers.

4. What kind of poets does Alice say Father liked?
(a) Ivy league approved classics.
(b) Senseless men who spouted jibberish.
(c) Hairy, bearish and mad.
(d) Romantic.

5. What is the last word that Mother speaks in the novel?
(a) Mother.
(b) Alice.
(c) Father.
(d) More.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do Alice and her Walter each deal with their troubled relationship?

2. What does Alice say she is hoping for in the chapter labeled Short Identifications?

3. What does Alice do with some of her inheritance?

4. What health problem does Uncle Billy have in the last part of the story?

5. Who does Mother blame for the circumstances of her life?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Alice's Florida when she is in high school?

2. Describe the circumstances of Arthur's death.

3. Was living with Uncle Billy and Aunt Frances good for Alice?

4. How does Alice repeat her mother's mistakes?

5. How is Arthur's death handled by Alice's family?

6. Why is Nonna kinder to Alice than she is to Mother?

7. Describe Alice's coping mechanism for dealing with hurtful memories of people in her past.

8. Describe Mother's life when Alice visits her in California.

9. Describe the role of poetry in Alice's life.

10. Why does Mother tell people that Father was a sculptor?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 738 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample