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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 does Chick consider his best day during his college years?

2. What does Miss Thelma say will be her legacy after she dies?

3. What does Rose say when Posey asks about her children?

4. What does Chick consider the worst day of his college career?

5. What would Posey tell her children when they would ask about patients she cared for who had died?

Short Essay Questions

1. What metaphor did Posey often use for the death of her patients when she was a nurse?

2. What did Marie write in the memory book at her grandmother's funeral?

3. What job does Chick learn his mother did in order to help pay his college tuition?

4. What does Chick claim he does not want to be?

5. Why does Chick suspect he is suffering from temporary insanity?

6. What does the Italian woman say when she catches sight of Posey and Chick in her mirror?

7. Why does Posey suggest Len got involved with this second woman while he was in the war, even though he was already engaged to Posey?

8. What happens when Chick hears the strange voice once again?

9. Why did Chick not want his mother to go to his dorm room with him?

10. What does Chick hear when he answers the phone at Rose's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following themes in detail, citing examples from the novel:

1) Death

2) Suicide

3) Father-Son Relationships

4) Mother-Son Relationships

Essay Topic 2

Discuss symbolism. Chick's father gives him a pair of old shoes that he once used while playing ball. Discuss the significance of these shoes and how the author uses them as a symbol of Chick's life and of his relationship with his father.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the narrator. Why does the narrator not tell the reader who she is at the beginning of the novel? Why does the narrator suggest she has only just met Chick Benetto when in fact she has known him her whole life? Who is the narrator? What role does the narrator play in Chick Benetto's attempted suicide? What caused the narrator to play this role in Chick Benetto's suicide? What changes in the narrator's relationship with Chick Benetto between the death of Posey, the near death of Chick Benetto, and Chick's telling of this story? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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