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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. What does Harry call Jane at the end of the story?

2. What language are the books that Bill gives the narrator?

3. When the narrator of Lust lives with friends over the summer, what does the group live near?

4. What does Tim say he was about to do?

5. Describe Bill's relationship with the narrator of Blow.

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the tone of the story The Break-up.

2. How does Liz want Owen to change?

3. What effect does Tim's break up with his girlfriend have on Liz and Owen's relationship?

4. What is the relevance of the title Sparks?

5. Why is Lil an unreliable narrator?

6. Describe Emma and Harry's relationship.

7. How does Ellen feel the morning after the party?

8. What is the author's message behind the story Lust?

9. How does Lil feel about the actor at the party?

10. Describe Nicholas.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How are the titles of the short stories relevant to the stories themselves? Choose three titles and discuss how each is relevant to the story it describes.

Essay Topic 2

What effect does imagery have on a piece of writing? Why might an author use imagery to tell a story? What are some specific instances of effective and ineffective imagery in Minot's stories?

Essay Topic 3

Compare this collection of short stories to an outside piece of literature that you have read, a movie, or a song. What parallels exist between these two pieces? What are the differences between the two pieces?

(see the answer keys)

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