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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 did Nora never have while she was at the White House?

2. What does Nora say is easier to do once the experience has played out?

3. What was one of Nora's favorite foods?

4. Where did Nora's first husband take her in an attempt to patch together their failed marriage?

5. According to Nora, what does a great story do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What event leads to Nora's personal story of being an intern at the White House while JFK was President?

2. What is the relationship that Nora draws between the reader and a diver?

3. Describe the way in which Nora share her one liners?

4. What happens when Nora sees Bill on TV again?

5. Describe Nora's job at the White House.

6. What happens to Nora when she is seven months pregnant that changes the course of her life entirely?

7. Why is Nora upset about not being able to find her favorite food since 1982?

8. What political issue makes Nora unwilling to support Bill?

9. What favorite food does Nora share about?

10. What does Nora say about wisdom?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nora Ephron talks about the glamour and public intrigue with the Kennedy White House. It was deemed the time of "Camelot". America has a love affair with fame. Fame sometimes serves as a justification for living. Write an essay on the reality of fame, public intrigue, and glamour. Refer to 3 contemporary "stars" and how fame and fortune have affected their life, either for good or for not. Explain how public people often have to protect their private life and how fame might just be an illusion to happiness.

Essay Topic 2

Nora Ephron talks about losing her eyesight and being frustrated because she finds it increasingly difficult to read. Write an essay on the power of literacy. In what ways does literacy affect our entire life? From communication, to obtaining a job, to understanding a political action, to having an informed opinion, or simply in understanding the world around you, there are so many ways literacy is part of daily life. Discuss 3 ways that literacy has changed your life. Describe how and why literacy is so necessary. Be sure to include at least 3 examples in your response.

Essay Topic 3

Nora describes the feeling of reading and finishing a book as the feeling of being a deep sea diver, coming up to the surface and needing to decompress or else running the risk of getting "the bends". Write a critical book review of your favorite novel, one that made you feel the rapture Nora speaks of. Discuss character, plot, climax, and resolution. If you have not felt that type of rapture, write an essay on what you imagine that feeling to be like, using the diver analogy. Make sure you take a critical, academic approach to the book review so that the reader is drawn in, much like they are in a novel.

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