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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Of what material was Bruce Bechtel's tombstone made?
(a) Marble.
(b) Granite.
(c) Bronze.
(d) Fieldstone.

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

3. 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?
(a) Literary allusion.
(b) Simile.
(c) Metaphor.
(d) Onomatopoeia.

4. The title of Chapter 2: "A Happy Death," alludes to a novel written by what author?
(a) Albert Camus.
(b) F. Scott Fitzgerald.
(c) James Joyce.
(d) Ernest Hemingway.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the author describe Joan after their meeting in Chapter 3?

2. How old was the author when her father died?

3. What film does the author describe her parents taking the family to see when it opened in 1974?

4. What gift does the author describe having bought for herself after receiving a letter from her mother after coming out in Chapter 3?

5. Alison Bechdel's Fun Home is a graphic memoir that is filled with literary allusions. What book by James Joyce is alluded to with the title of Chapter 1: "Old Father, Old Artificer"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What facts are established through the author's exposition in Chapters 1 and 2?

2. What does the title of Chapter 2, "A Happy Death" allude to?

3. What symbolism does the author relate to the obelisk in Chapter 2?

4. What literary allusions does the author make in describing her mother in Chapter 3?

5. What does the title of Chapter 3, "That Old Catastrophe" allude to? Why is this significant?

6. What literary allusion is tied to lilacs in Chapter 4?

7. How does the author describe her "coming out" to her parents in Chapter 3?

8. What allusions are made to the works of F. Scott Fitgerald in Chapter 3?

9. What mythological allusions does the author make in Chapter 1?

10. How and why does the author allude to It's a Wonderful Life in Chapter 1?

(see the answer keys)

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