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. With whom does the fertility problem rest?

2. What is Oliver's standing in law school and what does it mean?

3. How much money does Oliver get from his father?

4. How does Oliver satisfy both of their curiosity?

5. How could the firm be described where Oliver is to work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the letter Oliver received in July say about his last year's studies?

2. What did Oliver do in his second year of law school?

3. What kind of law firm does Oliver take a job with and where is it located?

4. What does Oliver receive in the mail that he and Jenny fight about and how does she feel? How does he feel?

5. Where is Jenny working and how does she feel about that?

6. What does Oliver say and do when his father tells him he's sorry?

7. Who does Oliver tell about Jenny's illness and what does he do?

8. Why does the doctor call Oliver into the office and what does he tell Oliver?

9. What does Jenny insist on doing at home and what is the one compromise she allows?

10. What does Oliver do after Jenny leaves the apartment when he threw the phone across the room?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The reader watches the two Olivers interact and has to wonder if this sense of competition is mostly a product of Oliver's imagination rather than a true competition that his father has initiated.

1. Do you think Oliver is imagining his father's motivations and feelings? Why or why not?

2. All people attribute feelings and thoughts to other people without knowing whether they are true. Explain a situation in which you, or someone you know, assumed a person thought one way and it was not true.

3. How would you feel if someone thought you believed something, or felt something that you didn't? How would you try to change their opinion?

Essay Topic 2

Oliver accepts his father's love for the first time, seeing it for what it is in his father's awkward way of showing love. It is a happy ending despite the devastation that marks Jenny's death.

1. Do you think Oliver's joy at finally knowing his father loves him is stronger than his grief at Jenny's death?

2. Do you think someone can experience joy and sorrow at almost the exact same moment? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Jenny's relationship with her father is clearly much closer than Oliver's with his father, and she clearly values her father more than Oliver does his.

1. Do you think the way Jenny was raised compared to Oliver's childhood will cause problems in their relationship? Why or why not?

2. Is your relationship with your father or mother similar to Jenny's or Oliver's? Why?

3. Do you think that Oliver's father expects too much from his son? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 988 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample