View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Mother say about Nonna's feelings for her children?

2. Who makes Alice a cake?

3. Who does she think of to balance her thoughts of the hurtful people in her life?

4. What promise does Alice say she neglected to keep to Mr. Early?

5. What type of a place is the location where Mother lives in Part Four?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the circumstances of Arthur's death.

2. Describe the relationship between Mother and Nonna.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. How has Mother and Alice's relationship changed when they are living on different coasts?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What motivates the greed, if you think they are greedy, of the following characters in the story: Uncle Billy, Alice, Mother, Aunt Frances?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

The fates of several characters in the book seem to be tied to their will to live and capacity for hope. Evaluate each of the following characters based on those criteria: Mother, Father, Arthur, Alice's Walter, and Alice.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 785 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample