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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 subject does Evie bring up during the photo shoot?

2. Who is the realtor of the next house Brandy, Shannon, and Manus visit?

3. Who was the police officer who molested Shane after the investigation?

4. How quickly does Brandy claims the cells in a body are completely replaced?

5. Why do Shannon's parents purchase these particular gifts for her?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Shannon describe the scene when she discovers Seth breaking into Evie's house?

2. What is the truth about both Shane's and Shannon's accidents?

3. Why is Shannon shocked to see the picture on the Rhea sister's stereo?

4. What does Shannon leave for the unconscious Brandy?

5. What extremes do Shannon's parents take when she visits for her birthday?

6. Why does Shannon burn Evie's house down?

7. Why does Manus's career as a police officer end?

8. From whom did Shane (Brandy) get the throat infection that leads him to be kicked out of the house?

9. Why does Shane leave home in the first place?

10. What surrounds Manus in the trunk of his car?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the central themes of the novel is that some people cannot accept themselves. Is this a bad thing in the novel? Are the people who accept themselves missing something in life, as Brandy theorizes? Has Brandy created a problem where one never existed? Be sure to use textual examples and present a well-organized argument.

Essay Topic 2

The novel makes use of different stereotypes are archetypes for some of the characters such as the model, the drag queen, and even the Texas oil princess. Choose three stereotypes and unpack their roles in the novel. To which characters do these stereotypes apply? Do they apply to multiple characters? How does the use of stereotypes contribute to the central theme of the novel? Do the stereotyped characters undergo any changes or are they static, remaining the same from start to finish?

Essay Topic 3

Shannon's final act is to give Brandy her identity. Why does Shannon choose to do this? What does this action mean for Shannon? What does this action mean for Brandy? Why does Shannon, after the huge adventure she has just had with her brother, need to leave him and never look back? How does the idea of an invisible monster drive her to this point? Why has Shane chosen to look exactly like Shannon in his new life? Do either of these characters find redemption?

(see the answer keys)

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