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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. Toward the end of the novel, who does Joan imagine suffocating her while she relaxes on her balcony in Terremoto?

2. What does Marlene claim she did to help Joan out of the water?

3. Who does Joan imagine is skating on the television program?

4. What does Joan find on her doorstep?

5. Why won't Joan write any more Costume Gothics?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Joan deal with her belief that she is being held captive?

2. Why does Joan feel she needs to disappear again?

3. What kind of love does Royal Porcupine express for Joan?

4. In Chapter 31, how is it clear that Joan is beginning to unravel?

5. Describe Joan's plan to fake her death.

6. How does Joan use her novel to explore her own life?

7. What is the significance of the discovery of Joan's buried clothes?

8. Why do you think Joan likes leading a dual life between Arthur and Royal Porcupine?

9. At the end of Chapter 28, why does Joan feel she has to "get away, as quickly as possible?"

10. What does the reappearance of The Fat Lady in Chapter 27 suggest about how Joan perceives herself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Terremoto, where Joan flees after faking her death by drowning, means "earthquake" in Italian. Discuss the significance of this setting as a symbol for Joan's new life. What does Joan expect her life to be when she arrives there? Does it meet her expectations?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the symbol of the Fat Lady in Joan's life. When does Joan daydream about the Fat Lady and what does it suggest about her emotional state at the time? Provide specific examples from the text to support your responses.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 8, Joan's mother asks, "What have I ever done to make you behave like this?" when Joan arrives home in a lime green coat covering her substantial bulk. Discuss the reasons Joan uses her weight to taunt her mother and what Joan's mother consistently does to her as a child.

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