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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The author says in Chapter 1 that being raised by her father was not like being raised by Jimmy Stewart but by whom?
(a) Amanda Stewart.
(b) Bette Davis.
(c) Donna Reed.
(d) Martha Stewart.

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

3. In what year did Bruce Bechdel die?
(a) 1980.
(b) 1991.
(c) 1977.
(d) 1975.

4. How old was F. Scott Fitzgerald when he died?
(a) 44.
(b) 51.
(c) 35.
(d) 49.

5. How does the author describe Joan after their meeting in Chapter 3?
(a) "Joan was a musician and a short-story writer."
(b) "Joan was a poet and a 'matriarchist.'"
(c) "Joan was a mechanic and a laborer."
(d) "Joan was an academic and an intellectual."

6. Who is the "cultured, dissipated, and penniless European art collector" that the heroine marries in The Portrait of a Lady?
(a) William Anderson.
(b) Morris Townsend.
(c) Gilbet Osmond.
(d) James Fletcher.

7. The author describes her childhood home as being built in a brief moment of wealth from the lumber industry in what year?
(a) 1867.
(b) 1798.
(c) 1962.
(d) 1911.

8. How old was Alison Bechdel when she realized she was a lesbian?
(a) 12.
(b) 22.
(c) 16.
(d) 19.

9. What kind of truck was involved in Bruce Bechdel's death?
(a) A Getty Gas truck.
(b) A Duncan Hines truck.
(c) A Borden Milk truck.
(d) A Sunbeam Bread truck.

10. What gift does the author describe having bought for herself after receiving a letter from her mother after coming out in Chapter 3?
(a) A pair of earrings.
(b) A Swiss army knife.
(c) A men's suit.
(d) A book.

11. How long prior to his death did Bruce Bechdel's wife ask him for a divorce?
(a) 1 week prior.
(b) 2 weeks prior.
(c) 2 months prior.
(d) 2 days prior.

12. Where did the author convince her parents to buy her hiking boots during their trip to Europe in her childhood?
(a) Switzerland.
(b) France.
(c) Norway.
(d) Italy.

13. To what religion did the author's mother ascribe?
(a) Baptist.
(b) Episcopalian.
(c) Catholicism.
(d) Christian Scientist.

14. The author compares her aesthetic to her father's in Chapter 1, saying that she was Spartan to her father's what?
(a) Athenian.
(b) Egalitarian.
(c) Victorian.
(d) Egyptian.

15. What is the name of Alison Bechdel's mother?
(a) Helen.
(b) Eleanor.
(c) Sarah.
(d) Emily.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the "smooth-talking fortune hunter" in The Heiress that the author describes in Chapter 3?

2. Where was the author in Europe when she convinced her parents for the right to trade a tank suit for shorts at the beach?

3. How far away was the author in college when her father died?

4. What novel is the play The Heiress based on?

5. What was the name of Bruce Bechdel's brother?

(see the answer keys)

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