1. What aromas does the author describe her father having smelled of in Chapter 1?
(a) Sawdust and sweat and designer cologne.
(b) Fish, eggs, and laundry.
(c) Laundry soap, wool, and attic dust.
(d) Car grease and toothpaste and soap.

2. The author directly correlates the embellishments of her childhood home to what in Chapter 1?
(a) Doll houses.
(b) Truth.
(c) Flowers.
(d) Lies.

3. What did Bruce Bechdel teach?
(a) English.
(b) Biology.
(c) Drama.
(d) Calculus.

4. What word from Chapter 1 refers to skillful use of one's hands when performing conjuring tricks?
(a) Gregarious.
(b) Imperialism.
(c) Legerdemain.
(d) Antagonism.

5. In one of the illustrated panels in Chapter 1, the author says, "When I grow up, my house is going to be all metal, like" what?
(a) "A submarine."
(b) "A spaceship."
(c) "A prison."
(d) "A silo."

Short Answer Questions

1. Consider the following sentence from Chapter 1: "His shame inhabited our house as pervasively and invisibly as the aromatic must of aging mahogany." What literary device is used in this sentence?

2. What skillful craftsman and artist from Greek mythology does the author compare her father to in Chapter 1?

3. Of what material was Bruce Bechtel's tombstone made?

4. The author compares her aesthetic to her father's in Chapter 1, saying that she was Spartan to her father's what?

5. The author says of her father in Chapter 1, "He used his skillful artifice not to make things, but to make things appear to be" what?

(see the answer key)

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