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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the narrator, who "counts less" (p. 12) than anyone else in the novel?
(a) Lisa Shilling.
(b) Elizabeth Frazer.
(c) Mary Nell Fickett.
(d) Betsy Goodman.

2. Lisa Shilling's conversation with her parents opens the novel. After that conversation what does Lisa do?
(a) Moves out of the house to live with her boyfriend.
(b) Lays on her bead and smashes her head against the headboard.
(c) Goes shopping with her friends.
(d) Goes to school and flunks her English test.

3. Betsy Goodman says her father calls "choosing what you want to hear and concentrating only on that" (p. 18) by the phrase...
(a) Wishful thinking.
(b) Living in your own world.
(c) A blind spot.
(d) Selective inattention.

4. Which major character says "'No matter what you decide to do, I won't be able to help you very much'" (p. 48)?
(a) Betsy Goodman.
(b) Mary Nell Fickett.
(c) Elizabeth Frazer.
(d) Lisa Shilling.

5. In the novel's title "Lisa, Bright and Dark", to what does the term "Dark" refer?
(a) Lisa's periods of mental illness.
(b) Lisa's relationship with her boyfriend Brian.
(c) Lisa's periods of relative normalcy.
(d) Lisa's fascination with going to see movies.

Short Answer Questions

1. The first person to suspect that perhaps Lisa Shilling did have a mental illness was...

2. Which character's father is a minister?

3. Who first decides to try and help Lisa Shilling?

4. Which major character suggests that Elizabeth Frazer should join Lisa Shilling's impromptu group therapy sessions?

5. The school guidance counselor's name is...

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of a job does Jeremy Bernstein do as the high school guidance counselor?

2. In what is Mr. Shilling primarily interested?

3. What kind of a job does Mr. Jackson do as the school principal?

4. Describe the chronology of the four main characters' friendships (in other words, who is friends with whom first).

5. Why does Elizabeth Frazer gradually become the de facto decision-maker of what is and is not good for Lisa Shilling?

6. Describe Mary Nell Fickett's and Besty Goodman's initial attempts to secure professional help for their friend Lisa Shilling.

7. Describe Lisa on a so-called bright day and contrast that description to Lisa on a so-called dark day.

8. Who is the narrator in chapter one?

9. Why does Betsy Goodman self-describe as the least important person in the narrative?

10. Describe the family situation of the four main characters.

(see the answer keys)

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