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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. How is Shannon sabotaging Seth?

2. Which character is shot?

3. What new item does Shannon notice on the family's dinner table?

4. Who is left to distract the realtor while Brandy and Shannon go upstairs?

5. What item does Evie keep under her bed?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Shannon describe the basic idea of modeling?

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

4. What causes Shannon's disfigurement?

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

6. What secret does Shannon write on her postcard at the Space Needle?

7. What philosophy does Brandy Alexander have that Shannon finds attractive?

8. Why does Shannon feel she is in competition with Brandy and Evie in the first scene?

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

10. What does the narrator warn the reader about the novel's structure?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel explores the idea of attention as an addiction. Is Shannon addicted to attention? Is Brandy? Is Evie or Manus? Why or why not? What instances in the text point you toward a conclusion?

Essay Topic 2

In the novel the author makes use of different devices to tell the story. In Shannon's case, many of her feelings are related using the Phantom Photographer, a mechanism that allows the reader to know how she is feeling indirectly. What are the implications of this Phantom Photographer? Why doesn't Shannon simply tell the reader herself what she is feeling? How does viewing her state of mind through a photographer provide insight to her former life as a model as well as her inner self?

Essay Topic 3

Brandy credits the Rhea sisters with making her who she is. Who exactly are the Rhea sisters? How do the Rhea sisters help Brandy once she finds them? Why did Brandy allow the Rhea sisters to make her over? Who is responsible for calling Brandy's family with the news that she is dead? What kind of attitude do the Rheas instill in Brandy and how does this enable her adventures?

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