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 does Cam close the door on in his dream?

2. What does the judge in the trial have weakness for?

3. Who is Dascomb Wharton?

4. What does Mia spill in Cam and Allie's car?

5. Why does the judge dismiss the court for a day?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What defense does the psychiatrist suggest Graham use for Jamie's case?

3. What does Maggie's best friend say on the stand when the prosecutor asks her if she is angry with Jamie for killing Maggie?

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

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

6. What does Jamie tell the prosecutor when she asks him why he didn't remove the pillow when Maggie struggled?

7. Why does Jamie think he hasn't seen or felt Maggie since her death?

8. What different things does the coroner say on the stand that helps both the prosecution and the defense?

9. Why is Graham nervous after Jamie's trial date is set?

10. How does the coroner almost ruin the prosecution's case against Jamie?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the relationships of Cam and Allie and Jamie and Maggie. What did each relationship represent? How did they evolve throughout the novel? What did the individuals discover about themselves through the relationship?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss what Jamie does for a living and how Picoult used his work to illuminate both characters and themes. How does his work impact what happens between Jamie and Maggie?

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 811 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample