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 the first witness for the prosecution?

2. What do Geraniums mean?

3. Where does Jamie finally see Maggie's ghost?

4. What does Graham see Jamie do during the trial that the jury could look at unfavorably?

5. What kind of professor does Graham use to help him pick a jury for the case?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Allie do when a man flirts with her at a bar where she is drinking her sorrows away?

2. What does Allie do one evening at her shop to try to help her situation with Cam?

3. What happens when Cam gets a call about a robbery in progress on Thanksgiving?

4. What happens in Cam's dream at the end of the novel?

5. What does Mia finally tell Cam after they go ice skating in New Hampshire?

6. What does Jamie realize when he sees Maggie's ghost in the copy room at the courthouse?

7. Why does Graham ask Allie to help him with Jamie's case?

8. What does Allie do after discovering Cam is having an affair with Mia?

9. What did Jamie and Maggie do on their last night together?

10. What does Ellen do to try to get Allie to forgive Cam?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the purpose of the second-person notes between the chapters? Who is the author and who are they intended for? What impact do they have on character development and themes of Mercy?

Essay Topic 2

What role does betrayal play in the novel Mercy?

Essay Topic 3

Why does Picoult begin the novel with these lines from a William Carlos Williams poem: "What power has love but forgiveness?/ In other words/ by its intervention/ what has been done/ can be undone./ What good is it otherwise?" What is the significance of these words to the plot and themes of Mercy? What is the difference between forgiveness and mercy?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 773 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample