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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. What epiphany does Betsy Goodman have immediately after Lisa Shilling attacks Elizabeth Frazer?
(a) That Elizabeth previously had suffered from mental illness.
(b) That Mary Nell Fickett is very bossy.
(c) That Elizabeth secretly has been dating Brian Morris.
(d) That Lisa is mentally ill.

2. As Mrs. Shilling begins to realize that perhaps her daughter Lisa really is suffering from mental illness, what is one of her first responses?
(a) She blames Lisa's father for causing the mental illness.
(b) She blames Lisa's friends for causing the mental illness.
(c) She runs away from her family.
(d) She starts to use psychedelic drugs.

3. During a barbecue near the end of the school year, Lisa Shilling physically attacks which major character?
(a) Mary Nell Fickett.
(b) Elizabeth Frazer.
(c) Betsy Goodman.
(d) Brian Morris.

4. Betsy Goodman and Mary Nell Fickett try to diagnose Lisa Shilling by watching Elizabeth Taylor's performance in which movie?
(a) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
(b) Three Faces of Eve.
(c) Raintree Country.
(d) Cleopatra.

5. Which major character is described as "a tall, blonde girl who seemed contained from within by taut wires strung from shoulder to shoulder, from head to hip. Self-contained and beautiful and distant, and suddenly mysterious" (pp. 59-60)?
(a) Elizabeth Frazer.
(b) Shirley MacLaine.
(c) Betsy Goodman.
(d) Mary Nell Fickett.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which major character always eats fattening foods like mayonnaise but still has a slim figure?

2. Betsy Goodman wants Lisa Shilling to teach her how to do what strange behavior?

3. How extensive are Lisa Shilling's physical wounds after she walks through a floor-to-ceiling window?

4. After Lisa Shilling walks through a floor-to-ceiling window and is taken to the hospital, Mr. Goodman, Betsy Goodman, Mary Nell Fickett, and Elizabeth Frazer all attempt to convince Mrs. Shilling that Lisa's actions were a cry for help. How does Mrs. Shilling respond?

5. Elizabeth Frazer agrees to try to help Lisa Shilling only after...

Short Essay Questions

1. How might the narrative differ if the protagonists were male?

2. When discussing a movie about mental illness with her friends, Lisa Shilling comments on one particular aspect or scene of the movie that makes her uncomfortable. What is that aspect?

3. Mary Nell Fickett and Betsy Goodman briefly consider inviting Lisa Shilling's younger sister Tracy to their group therapy sessions. They decide against it. Why do they decide against it?

4. After Lisa assaults Elizabeth, she makes her close friends make her a particular promise. What is the promise, and why does she make them accept it?

5. The four protagonists have a backyard cookout that ends with Lisa Shilling assaulting Elizabeth Frazer. What leads up to Lisa's assault?

6. Describe Lisa Shilling's punctuality and dependability.

7. As the novel points out, Mr. and Mrs. Shilling ultimately are the legally responsible persons for the care of the daughter Lisa. After reading of their stubborn refusal to admit there is a problem, is this the approach that society should continue to utilize for child rearing?

8. Between Elizabeth Frazer, Mary Nell Fickett, and Betsy Goodman, which character tries the least to understand Lisa Shilling's diagnosis?

9. Lisa Shilling occasionally talks in a deep, sultry voice with a notable English accent. Betsy Goodman associates this English-sounding Lisa with the dark Lisa. In popular psychology, what type of mental illness would account for this distinction?

10. Cover photographs aside, what narratives clues are there that identify the four protagonists as white?

(see the answer keys)

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