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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. Why doesn't Mother attend the funeral in Part Three?

2. Why does Alice first return to the Big House years after leaving?

3. What does Mr. Early notice about Alice?

4. What does Alice learn that Mother has been doing in Part Four: Arthur-Mother?

5. Why is Alice in a lawyer's office?

Short Essay Questions

1. Is it right for Alice to ask her Mother to sign over access to Mother's trust fund?

2. Describe the life that Alice creates for herself in New York.

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

4. Is Mother's interpretation of father's death believable?

5. Why does Mother live apart from the family in California in Part Three: The Big House?

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

7. Is Alice happy at the end of the story?

8. What does Mr. Early represent to Alice?

9. Explain why Alice finds herself in a lawyer's office when she is 30-years-old.

10. Describe the circumstances of Arthur's death.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Father's vision of Florida as an escape and symbol of hope lives on through Alice and Mother long after his death.

1) Does Alice's vision of hope and paradise change as she gets older? Explain.

2) How do Mother's sun box and the San allow Mother and Alice to continue their Florida fantasy?

3) Why don't Mother or Alice actually ever go to Florida?

Essay Topic 2

Does Father's absence or Mr. Early's presence in Alice's life have a greater impact on the person she becomes by the end of the story? Write an analysis of this question and support your answer with specific examples from the story.

Essay Topic 3

Alice and Mother are the most central characters of the novel.

1) Explain how the power of their shared names impacts both figures.

2) Who is more strongly affected by her own mother: Mother or Alice? Explain.

3) Is Mother or Alice a more generous person? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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