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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 9 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the email one of the nannies wrote to Seraphina weeks before say?

2. How do the women who visit Hadley feel about their lot as unlicensed women?

3. What does Hadley think about doing with the baby after she takes her from the library?

4. What does the voice on the other side of Hadley's door say after Hadley does not answer to the knocking?

5. What is Seraphina's son's name?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Hadley's experience at the library when she looks for a baby to borrow.

2. How does Seraphina discover her nannies are gone and how does she react?

3. What does one of the woman who comes to Hadley's apartment say to Hadley when she says that borrowing a baby is not a crime?

4. Why do the women who come to Hadley's apartment say they think she is one of them?

5. Who comes to Hadley's apartment after she arrives with Gemma and where are they from?

6. How does Paul behave around Seraphina?

7. How does Seraphina feel about her life as a mother?

8. How does borrowing a baby make Hadley feel about her lot in life?

9. Why does Hadley consider running away with Gemma when she takes her from the library?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a brief essay analyzing the title "Graceful Burdens." Explore the ways in which this title connects to the plot and themes of the story.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing the genre classification of "Graceful Burdens." What is the genre? What are other genre options? Why did Roxane Gay choose this genre for the subject matter? What are examples from the text that support this genre classification?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay comparing and contrasting Hadley and Seraphina in "Graceful Burdens." What details help develop their character and what do these details tell you about them? What is their background? How do they feel about their current reality? In what ways are they similar or different? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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