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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 Sean Jr. react when Elizabeth enters the men's room in Chapter 2?

2. Who is the only person to notice that Elizabeth has lost her virginity?

3. Who does Elizabeth meet in Dunloaghaire?

4. Why does Elizabeth not want her mother to visit the O'Connor house?

5. Where does Elizabeth stay in order to give her parents time to talk in Chapter 7?

Short Essay Questions

1. What dismays Elizabeth on the purchasing trip she goes on with Stone?

2. What does Worsky warn Elizabeth about Stone? Why doesn't she pay attention?

3. Who does Violet White damn at the beginning of the novel?

4. What does Aisling report in a letter to Elizabeth in Chapter 6?

5. How does Elizabeth respond to Aisling's questions about sex?

6. What happens when Sean Jr. fails his Leaving Certificate examination?

7. After leaving St. Mark convent school years ago, what have Violet and Eileen done with their lives?

8. What does Sean Sr. want before he would allow Sean Jr. to fight with the English?

9. What circumstance is forcing Violet to send her daughter Elizabeth outside of London?

10. In Chapter 9, why does Aisling decide she wants to travel? What opportunity soon presents itself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Elizabeth's and Aisling's growth as characters. How do they grow throughout the novel? How are they able to do this? How does their friendship evolve along the way?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of religion in the novel "Light a Penny Candle". How does Elizabeth's move to Ireland introduce her to a new faith? How does her new faith influence her? What is the connection between the novel's motif of guilt and its theme of religion? Are Elizabeth and Aisling religious people?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author of the novel "Light a Penny Candle", Maeve Binchy. What other books has she written? Is this novel similar to her other works in term of plot, tone and genre? How is her work received by critics?

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