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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. What do the unreliables say about Aunt Frances?

2. What happens to Walter?

3. What does Arthur call Mother?

4. What is the San?

5. What is The Big House?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Alice's friendship with Arthur.

2. Was Father a happy man?

3. Is Alice a responsible teenager at age 15?

4. Why does Alice call the San Mother's Florida?

5. Describe Walter's departure.

6. Is Alice destined to follow in Mother's footsteps?

7. Do you think Father intended to take his family to Florida?

8. How would you describe Mother's relationships with men?

9. How does Alice feel about going back to live with Mother after she is institutionalized and Alice moves in with Aunt Frances and Uncle Billy?

10. Does Alice relate to the unreliables?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Defining home and a place she belongs is not easy for Alice.

1) Compare and contrast the brownstone and Uncle Billy's house as homes for Alice.

2) Of all the places Alice lives, choose the two that most and least feel like home. Explain your reasoning.

3) Analyze the extent to which having Mother present is necessary for a house to feel like home to Alice at different times in her life.

Essay Topic 2

To what degree is Alice's life, personality and destiny shaped by her parents? Analyze the effects of nature, nurture, being a victim, and making choices in Alice's life.

Essay Topic 3

Explain how the following events contributed to Alice's coming of age in the novel.

1) Mother going to the San.

2) Moving to the Big House.

3) Arthur's death.

(see the answer keys)

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