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. How old was Gay when she experienced her life-defining trauma?

2. What book does Gay's counselor give her that she found helpful?

3. What kind of job did Gay do at the Prairie Schooner?

4. Where was the boarding school Gay attended located?

5. Which of the following is NOT a Haitian food that Gay mentions she likes?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the author gain weight so rapidly once she went to boarding school?

2. What prompts Gay to drop out of Yale and move across the country?

3. How does Gay feel about the use of BMI (body mass index) measurements?

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

5. Where did Gay's rape take place, and how does she reference the location throughout the rest of the book in how she refers to herself?

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

7. What are some of the reasons Gay gives explaining why Hunger was a difficult book for her to write?

8. What do you think Roxane Gay means by the phrase “The story of my body is not a story of triumph” (4)?

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

10. What was Gay's mother’s approach to teaching her children how to cook?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gay writes, “I do not require the affirmation of strangers" and says she views these types of comments as "the expression of the fear of unruly bodies” (165). Write an essay detailing Gay’s feelings about the “encouragement” strangers sometimes offer about her body.

Essay Topic 2

Gay indicates that Hunger was the most difficult work she has ever written. Write an essay describing the author’s tone throughout the book, how it changes, and what effect it has on the reader.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay exploring the significance of the word “hunger” - including its multiple meanings - to the author Roxane Gay. Use specific examples from the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 705 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample