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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. Why does Joan's mother say she did not want to move in with Joan?

2. What does Joan's mother desperately want to do in America?

3. What do the doctors in the ICU always ask patients?

4. What airport does Joan fly out of for her trip to her father's funeral?

5. Who is Fang's wife?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Joan like to feel like after her long shifts?

2. What does Joan's doorman often say to her?

3. What surprises Joan's colleagues about her when they hear her on the phone?

4. What gestures do Joan and her mother do before Joan leaves her father's funeral?

5. What kind of work does Fang do and how does he feel about it?

6. What shocks Mark about Joan in Part II?

7. What question does Joan increasingly get from co-workers and friends as she ages?

8. How does Joan's father die?

9. How does Joan generally get along with her neighbors?

10. Why does Joan say she chose to work in intensive care?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Towards the end of the novel, how does Joan establish boundaries and have a relationship with her neighbor Mark on her own terms? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Why does Joan believe she "catastrophizes" around her family, but not at work? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How do Joan's feelings about Mark, her neighbor, change over the course of the novel, and why do they change? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

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This section contains 547 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample