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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 the family hear outside as they are enjoying their Christmas?

2. How long has Isobel been in the hospital?

3. Why does Lady Margaret kill herself?

4. What does Isobel do on Christmas eve?

5. What does Gordon do when he notices the building?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Isobel do with Malcolm in Hilary's bedroom?

2. What does Isobel say about Audrey?

3. How does Malcolm die this time in Isobel's "vision"?

4. What impressions does Isobel have about where she is at the end of this chapter?

5. When does Isobel awake from her coma, and what does she learn about why she is in the hospital?

6. How does Gordon meet Eliza?

7. What does Isobel wonder about reality and Mr. Baxter?

8. Who is Lady Margaret and what happens to her in regards to Sir Francis?

9. What day does Gordon remember at the end of this chapter?

10. What is the time and purpose of this chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful novel?

2. Analyze and discuss "Human Croquet" based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if this is a successful novel.

3. Is "Human Croquet" a novel you would recommend to a friend? Why or why not? Explain.

4. Can a novel be successful and yet many readers not enjoy it? Explain your response.

Essay Topic 2

Melinda is sixteen when the novel opens. Discuss the following:

1. What are some ways that Melinda seems like an average sixteen year old? Give examples and why you say the activities are average teen activities.

2. What are some ways that Isobel seems older than her age of 16? Give specific examples and discuss whether they seem consistent with the character of Isobel as she is developed throughout the book.

3. Is it realistic to think Isobel could handle the situations that arise in the novel alone? Where do you think Isobel could have turned to for help?

Essay Topic 3

Many authors if queried would admit that they have an agenda for writing a particular novel. Discuss the following:

1. Define and give examples of the concept of "author agenda."

2. Do you think Atkinson has an agenda in mind when she writes "Human Croquet"?

3. What do you think would be Atkinson's agenda(s) (if she has one)? Give examples to illustrate how the agenda is fulfilled.

4. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

5. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

(see the answer keys)

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