View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where was Gay born?

2. What did Gay's English teacher encourage her to do?

3. How much did author Roxane Gay weigh at her heaviest?

4. Which book series did Gay become obsessed with after her trauma?

5. What was Gay's first job after finishing her MA in Creative Writing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the reasons Gay gives for not telling anyone about her rape?

2. How does Gay describe her relationship with her family as a young child?

3. What relationship did Gay have with the boy who raped her?

4. How did the boys who raped Gay treat her afterwards?

5. How did Gay’s parents react to her weight gain when she came home for Thanksgiving her first year in boarding school?

6. What habit did Gay pick up at the weight-loss camp she attended in high school?

7. What is Gay referring to when she says her life was split in two, “the before and the after" (14)?

8. Why did Gay like the idea of going to boarding school when she was 13?

9. What was Gay's relationship to food like before her rape?

10. What does Gay mean when she says her body is a cage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are many public places that produce anxiety for Gay, who explains “There are very few spaces where bodies like mine fit” (202). Write an essay giving specific examples from the text about some of these spaces and explain how Gay reacts to their challenges.

Essay Topic 2

Gay repeatedly refers to her body as “unruly.” Write an essay analyzing why she describes her body this way.

Essay Topic 3

How did Gay’s rape affect her sexuality and subsequent intimate relationships with both men and women? Why is she attracted to the BDSM community?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 634 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample