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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. Sam tells Tara and her family that he knows what it feels like to what, in Chapter 18?

2. What does Tara do during the play she performs in in Chapter 13?

3. What does Tara's family read after dinner in Chapter 16?

4. Who wrote the Afterword to the novel?

5. Tara's new psychiatrist tells her to think about her parents being dead for how long during each time in Chapter 20?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Tara relate her school studies to her own life in Chapter 21?

2. What question does Tara ask her teacher in Chapter 21? Who in the class understands Tara's question?

3. What conflict takes place between Tara and her father in Chapter 17?

4. How has Tara's emotional life evolved in Chapter 13?

5. What treatment has Sam received for his condition? How does Tara relate to his discussion about OCD in Chapter 18?

6. How does Tara describe her analysis of her dream from the beginning of the novel in Chapter 23?

7. What does Tara go with Donna to purchase in Chapter 20? Why?

8. How does Tara feel about Sam's impending visit in Chapter 18? How does she greet him?

9. How does Christmas Day end for Tara in Chapter 14?

10. What treatment does Dr. Leopardi suggest in Chapter 19? How difficult does she tell Tara it will be?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and analyze Tara's experience at the carnival in Chapter 10. In what ways is this a pinnacle of demoralization for Tara? How does Tara's mother feel about her behavior? How does Tara's father react to the situation? What major lesson does Tara learn?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the element of language and style in literature and in the novel. How is language used in "Kissing Doorknobs"? How is it used thematically with Tara's character? How do the characters interact with one another? Does this differ from how Tara's internal mind thinks?

Essay Topic 3

Define and identify dramatic irony and the tragic hero in narrative literature. How many different types of irony are there, and why does dramatic irony fit the situation in Chapter 3? Why is Tara's character tragic? What is ironic about her situation with her friends and family?

(see the answer keys)

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