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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. Where does Evie's family get their money?

2. What landmark do Brandy, Shannon, and Seth visit in Seattle?

3. What does Evie suggest to Shannon as a career move?

4. What speaking technique does the Speech Therapist want Shannon to use?

5. What item does the policeman at the border want to see?

Short Essay Questions

1. While watching television in the hospital, what infomercial does Shannon see?

2. Why does the narrator feel that she has no native tongue?

3. What is Shannon's father's strategy for selling his pigs at market?

4. Why does Brandy make Rona Barrett her new Supreme Being?

5. Why does Manus have pornography magazines around his apartment?

6. Before her accident, what does Shannon do for a living?

7. What is Brandy's final request to Shannon before she dies?

8. What causes Shannon's disfigurement?

9. After arriving at the hospital, what surprises Shannon about the others in the waiting room?

10. What happens on the day that Shannon's bandages are removed when she visits the grocery store?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A central image of Shannon's childhood is her clothes burning on the clothesline. How does this event change Shannon? How does Shannon react? How does her reaction give insight to her character at fifteen? Is this the start of her obsession with fire? Why or why not? Be sure to examine the account in the novel and cite any quotations.

Essay Topic 2

According to Brandy, Shannon is not responsible for the way she acts. We are all products of products of products, and have no real choice in whom we become. How is this idea reflected in the novel? Has Brandy broken out of this cycle or does she consider herself a part of it? How has Shannon attempted to break outside of herself? By the end of the novel, has she accomplished her goals? Why or why not? Be sure to include textual evidence in your argument.

Essay Topic 3

Do a character study of Manus Kelley. What role does he play in the novel? How does his relationships with the other characters further the plot? How does his character contribute to the central themes of the novel? Is he a static character or does he undergo changes throughout the text? Though he travels with Brandy and Shannon, would you consider him a main character or a supporting character? How are his many aliases representative of Manus himself?

Explore some of his female-hormone inspired rants on God, parents, and television. What points are the author trying to make about society through Manus? Why is Manus so obsessed with the idea that television makes people like God? Be sure to use examples from the text in your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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