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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. What does Benson think the two-beat drumming is?

2. Where does the girl with bells for eyes tell Benson to go?

3. What does the narrator of "The Husband Stitch" say she does for her boyfriend, which is not normal?

4. What does Benson typically do with her groceries?

5. When the narrator of "The Husband Stitch" takes an art course, she meets another woman with a ribbon—where is it?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Stabler’s life unlike the girls with bells with eyes?

2. Is the ending or "Inventory" a triumph or a defeat?

3. What is Machado’s style like?

4. What do we know about the virus that is killing people off in "Inventory"?

5. What was Father Jones’ relationship with the girl who fell from the rooftop?

6. What can the title of this book mean?

7. Why do Stabler and Benson notch their furniture?

8. What kind of atmosphere does Machado create with her epigrams?

9. Throughout the story, the narrator provides instructions to the reader, about how to read the story aloud. What effect does this have?

10. What does Stabler do to complicate relations with his wife in "Especial Heinous"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an evaluative review of Her Body and Other Parties. What is this book’s place in culture? What are its uses? What are its limitations?

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate your own reading of Her Body and Other Parties—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

Essay Topic 3

What lessons does Her Body and Other Parties have to teach women? What lessons does it have to teach men? What would a book titled ‘His Body and Other Parties’ be like?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 961 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample