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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. Lisa Shilling sometimes speaks with what kind of an affected accent?
2. The narrator states that Mr. Shilling's primary motivation is...
3. Lisa Shilling spends her six-week vacation in Florida doing what?
4. Which character is described by the narrator as trying "to hard to be clever, too hard to be quick, too hard at everything except at being himself" (pp. 28-29)?
5. Mary Nell Fickett's approach to helping Lisa Shilling initially consists of...
Short Essay Questions
1. Describe the chronology of the four main characters' friendships (in other words, who is friends with whom first).
2. Why does Lisa Shilling believe that she is suffering form mental illness?
3. Describe the nature of the relationship between Brian Morris and Lisa Shilling in the early part of the novel.
4. What kind of a job does Mr. Jackson do as the school principal?
5. What aspect of Mary Nell Fickett's personality is demonstrated by her voluminous reading of psychology textbooks?
6. Why does Elizabeth Frazer gradually become the de facto decision-maker of what is and is not good for Lisa Shilling?
7. In what is Mr. Shilling primarily interested?
8. Describe Mary Nell Fickett's and Besty Goodman's initial attempts to secure professional help for their friend Lisa Shilling.
9. Why is Betsy Goodman the youngest of the major protagonists?
10. Mental illness aside, how typical are the four main protagonists of the novel?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Of the four primary mothers in the novel--Mrs. Shilling, Mrs. Goodman, Mrs. Fickett, and Mrs. Frazer--who would you least like to have as a mother? Why?
Essay Topic 2
Mrs. Shilling functions as the novel's primary antagonist as she absolutely refuses to admit her daughter might be suffering from mental illness. Instead, Mrs. Shilling spends her time ignoring her daughter and when faced with incontrovertible evidence points fingers instead of looking for solutions. Do you find the portrayal of Mrs. Shilling credible? Describe Mrs. Shilling's role in the novel. Have you ever know someone like Mrs. Shilling?
Essay Topic 3
The novel features a few construction elements that make the exact identify of the narrator ambiguous in some portions. Describe who you think is the narrator of the novel. Can the narrator be identified as a single character? Is the narrator reliable?
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This section contains 965 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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