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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. How does Brandy introduce herself at the open house?

3. Why do Evie and Shannon spend their time in the furniture section?

4. What is Shannon asked to do before Brandy's death?

5. What does Brandy give to Shannon after she tells her story?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What story does Brandy tell the border policemen to try to get them back into the USA?

3. Why have Brandy and her comrades come to the open house?

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

5. What device does the author employ again and again to convey Shannon's emotions?

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

7. Why does Shannon prefer to think of her brother as dead?

8. What has Shannon told her parents, instead of telling them about the accident?

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

10. What accident does Shane have when he was fifteen?

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

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

In the novel, each character goes through a transformation. Go through each major character one by one and explains their journey and ultimate conclusion. Be sure to use specifics from the text.

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