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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. What sport does McLeish play?

2. Who is the music teacher for the five children in Part I?

3. Who is Ben's favorite nurse?

4. Who does Alec appeal to for a new job in Part I?

5. How old is McLeish when Vern takes him to lunch?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Vern like as a child, and how does his childhood temperament relate to his adult one?

2. What does Jo notice about the man she thinks of as having a frog face in Part II?

3. How does Vern mislead his dinner companion in Part I?

4. What is one reason Alec feels distant from his son?

5. In Part I, how does Alec demonstrate his willingness to challenge authority as a child?

6. In Part II, what does Alec spend a lot of time doing besides working?

7. Who does Vern become distracted by during his business dinner in Part I and why does this happen?

8. What kind of job does Alec's mentor help him get as a young adult?

9. Why is Alec under some pressure to get a job in Part I as a young adult?

10. Why does Alec's mentor have some misgivings about him going into the line of work he has chosen?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does knowing that Val, Jo, Alec, Vern and Ben have all died as children affect the reader's experience throughout the entirety of the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What are some of the most significant factors that hold Jo back from achieving success as a musician in her own right? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Jo find her way back to her dream of producing her own music and putting it out in the world towards the end of the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 649 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample