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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 does the family eat their dinner?

2. What covers the mantle at Shannon's parents' house at Christmastime?

3. What happens to Shannon's clothes on the line outside?

4. What does Shannon do to her stretched-out clothes?

5. What would Shannon insist to Evie's mother upon her death?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Seth Thomas's true identity?

2. Though he has broken into the house with a knife, what does Manus try to tell Shannon?

3. How does Shannon try to kill Brandy?

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

5. Why does Brandy decide to become a woman?

6. After locking Manus in the closet, who does Shannon call and what are the results?

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

8. How does Evie feel about her womanhood thus far?

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

10. What does Brandy propose to Shannon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author makes use of juxtapositions in the text. Examine the photo shoots that Shannon recounts. How is juxtaposition used? What are the locations of the shoots? What do the models have to wear? What other literary elements can be detected in these scenes? How does the author's use of description contribute to the overall effect?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Shannon and Brandy. How are they alike? How are they different? What paths have they taken in the quest for true originality? How could their shared childhood have sent them in such different directions? Do they come to peace with one another in the end of the novel? Why or why not? Why did Brandy choose to deceive Shannon for so long? Be sure to use examples from the text in your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 691 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample