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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. To which of the following does Marian compare Barclay?

2. Which of the following does Jones have as a tattoo?

3. What is the title of Carol Feiffer’s book about Marian?

4. In what city had Hadley’s parents lived?

5. Who heads the studio producing the film for which Hugo recruits Hadley?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what does Marian grieve after her first flight to Vancouver?

2. How is the term “great circle” defined?

3. How does Matilda mark out the distinctions among first-, second-, and third-class passengers on the Josephina Eterna?

4. What reasons are reported for Lena hunting via rifle rather than trap?

5. What does Marian note is the “great unifying thesis” of Marx’s teaching (184)?

6. When her father asks what he could have done to help her, what reply does Annabel make?

7. What reasons does Hugo cite for asking Hadley not to have a meltdown?

8. How does Stanley hide his alcohol production?

9. What brings the Brayfogles through Missoula?

10. What reason does Hadley cite for leaving Oliver?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Which of the two focal characters, Marian or Hadley, is the more important in the novel? What in the novel suggests as much, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

In “The Cosmic Whoosh of the Expanding Universe,” Hadley comments on the mismatches between Marian’s logbook and the novelization thereof. Hadley’s own project is a reinterpretation of the novelization. What attitude toward adaptation does the novel display, and how does it display as much?

Essay Topic 3

Sources attest to the presence of Great Circle on bestseller lists. Assuming that sales figures reflect popularity, what accounts for the popularity of the novel? How does it do so?

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