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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 particular item within the truck upsets Alice the most?

2. How does Max react to Julia's decision to leave his house at the end of Chapter 17?

3. In Chapter 21, it is nearing the end of what month?

4. Julia comes to the conclusion that Alice has "the verbal skills of a" (230) what?

5. What objects fill the part of the room where Alice likes to hide when she is scared?

Short Essay Questions

1. What had been the cause of the break-up between Julia and Philip?

2. What reason does Cal give when Ellie notices his rare sense of melancholy on the evening of Christmas day?

3. What major step does Julia tell Ellie she is planning to take "the day after Christmas" (282)?

4. For what reason does Julia accept Max's invitation to ride on the back of his motorcycle?

5. What two words does Alice think in Chapter 20 upon becoming "lost in the sea of faces and bodies" (278)?

6. What does Ellie's choice of porch chair in Chapter 13 tell Julia about her state of mind?

7. What situation within Chapter 14 cause Max to feel real fear "for the first time in seven years" (189)?

8. What prompts Julia to leave Max's house in Chapter 17?

9. How does Ellie try to cheer up Cal's daughters on Christmas evening?

10. What coping mechanisms does Max use to cope with his dark mood on Christmas day?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In what way does Hannah go about breaking the text into parts and how do these structural elements help to advance the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Hannah’s novel Magic Hour. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Write a critical essay about Magic Hour while using the critical power theory lens of feminist theory. Use textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the novel's treatment of gender roles, the objectification of women, female empowerment, misogyny's role within society, or any other issues related to feminist theory that can be found in the novel.

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