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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 is the name of the paper Nora's family runs?

2. What is written on a gold-lettered shingle at The Sentinel office?

3. What does Lurie remember telling the writer from Nevada about mounting a camel?

4. Who is Nora's mother?

5. Who is the postman that comes to Desma's while Nora is there?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Nora choose to sign her rebuttal letter to The Sentinel from Ellen Francis?

2. What is one of Nora's most pressing concerns on her homestead?

3. What does Donovan do to Lurie immediately after the wanted poster appears?

4. What does Lurie steal on the ship he takes cover on whose owner he later bumps into in Part I?

5. What errand is Emmett very late returning from in Part II?

6. What power does Josie claim to have that Nora is skeptical about?

7. What makes Lurie give Jolly back the nazar he has stolen from him?

8. What does Toby want to show his mother so badly in Part I that Nora is skeptical about?

9. What one word does Emmett question Nora's use of in her rebuttal letter she wants him to print in The Sentinel?

10. What kind of disposition does Lurie say camels would not suit?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the meaning of the word "Inland" in this novel, and why do you think Obreht uses this word as her title? Write an essay explaining your answer, keeping in mind the tone and themes of the book and citing specific references to the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

In the section titled Evening, what finally seems to make Nora realize that the voice she has heard and attributed to Evelyn's spirit for years is not truly that of Evelyn's spirit? What does Nora finally come to believe the voice is? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 3

What seems to bother Nora the most when she finds out her eldest son Rob and Josie are lovers? What kind of a life does she envision for them as they grow older? Write an essay explaining your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 630 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample