View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Ayinde's mother looking for when they arrive at the photo shoot?

2. What does Julian do during the photo shoot?

3. Where had Lia gone when she left Caleb with the neighbor?

4. Who sent Ayinde a book?

5. What makes Ayinde say "Ouch"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the thought of having intercourse so hard for Kelly?

2. "April Lia" opens with Lia sitting on a park bench wanting to be invisible. Why does Lia want to be invisible?

3. What is the symbolism of Lia tucking her hair under the baseball cap as she heads for the Parents Together Grief group?

4. Why is Becky not happy with her mother-in-law moving to Philadelphia?

5. What are some reasons Becky refuses or does not want to speak to Mimi, her mother-in-law?

6. In the chapter "July Ayinde," why is Richard unhappy in the middle of the night?

7. How does Weiner paint Mimi in the chapter "September Becky"?

8. We learn Kelly wanted a normal childhood in May Kelly. What does Kelly consider a normal childhood?

9. Jennifer Weiner paints a picture of motherhood in the opening scene of "August Becky." How is this picture humorous?

10. Becky always seems to worry about her weight. How is this self-consciousness shown in the chapter "June Becky"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Depending upon the character, Little Earthquakes is written in the first person and third person. Lia's chapters are written in the first person, while the other three main characters--Kelly, Ayinde, and Becky--are written in the third person. What is Jennifer Weiner's reason for doing this?

Essay Topic 2

In the midst of personal troubles, Becky's friends have difficulty finding ways that their lives are blessed and how they are fortunate. In particular, Kelly tends to be scornful when people call her lucky. But, towards the end of the story, she starts to realize how blessed and fortunate she is. How does motherhood tend to put things into perspective for Becky? What does Becky learn from her friends?

Essay Topic 3

Of all the main characters, Becky is the character who struggles with physical appearance. She looks in the mirror and questions whether she is pregnant or just fat. Although Becky has struggled with her body image most of her life, the pregnancy really makes her draw attention to her weight. She has hoped that through the pregnancy she could relax with the weight issue, but it has not. How do this disappointment and her struggle with weight loss and body image affect her view of pregnancy?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 791 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample