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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. Who tells Jen that she might as well stay with Eric since he is comfortable and convenient?

2. Jen thinks that _______ are the best gatherings she knows about, along with getting together at the bedside of a dying person.

3. On Thursdays, Jen cleans the home of a _________________ who is actually not all that he seems, in her opinion. And he tries to cheat her each week.

4. What do the people next door to Jen remind her of, as she describes them for the reader?

5. What does Jen want to avoid when she is sitting and waiting for Kathleen to show up at their meeting place?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Wallace in the week before his surgery, making him think that Mercury is targeting him?

2. What has happened to all of Jen's male friends, or so she remembers when she is driving away from the hospital?

3. What does the family do in the days leading up to Wallace's surgery, trying to forget about what's to happen?

4. What does Jen think about her next door neighbors, as she is walking to work one day?

5. What does Kathleen offer as an explanation for what happened at Jen and her meeting?

6. Why are the children so surprised that they get along when they are together in the present time?

7. What are the worries that Wallace has as he begins to undergo the process of removing the problem from his body?

8. What is the finding of the doctor when Wallace goes in to find out more about the difficulties he's having?

9. Why doesn't Jen decide to tell Eric about the brain tumor that her father has been diagnosed as having?

10. What happens when Jen gets really drunk after calling up Kathleen after their missed appointment?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The children in the family seem to have a lot of troubles, but they are still close and loving to each other.

Part 1: Why do you think children have a hard time relating to their siblings as they grow up?

Part 2: How did you relate to your siblings as you got older? What about when you were younger?

Part 3: Can siblings be loving, even if they pick on each other?

Essay Topic 2

The introduction of Wallace's tumor causes the story to take a turn right at the start.

Part 1: Why do you think the family reacts in the way they do?

Part 2: How do you think you would react if you hard your father had a tumor?

Part 3: Do you think there might have been a better way for the family to react?

Essay Topic 3

Jen points out that sometimes things which seem senseless often turn out to be good in the end.

Part 1: Do you think that things in life are ever senseless?

Part 2: Why do you think something senseless might turn out to be good?

Part 3: How do you think a person might be able to make good out of a senseless situation?

(see the answer keys)

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