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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. Who discovers Callie's unusual genitals in this chapter?

2. Why is Callie given the position of goalie on the field hockey team at her school?

3. How do Tessie and Milton react to the ER doctor's diagnosis of Callie?

4. What is perplexing to Dr. Luce and his colleagues about Callie's condition?

5. Why does the man who claims to have Callie want Milton to negotiate a ransom price with him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What masculine traits does Callie begin showing in this chapter?

2. Describe the changes in Chapter Eleven that Callie notices when he returns home from his freshman year at college.

3. Describe the Baker-Inglis English class production of Antigone.

4. Why does Callie not discover her hermaphroditism in this chapter?

5. Describe Zora Khyber.

6. Why does Callie name her love interest "the Obscure Object"?

7. Describe the circumstances that lead Milton to cancel the Stephanides family's trip to Turkey.

8. Describe the series of drivers who pick Cal/Callie up while s/he is hitch hiking.

9. What does Callie notice in Miss Grotowski's math class that makes her question her own physical development?

10. What is the connection between the mulberry tree outside of Middlesex and the silk industry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the themes in Middlesex is the American Dream. Discuss how the American Dream is used in this novel and what it says about the attainability of the dream. Cite several specific examples from the novel to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Middlesex looks at the relationship between gender and physical sex (i.e. male or female body parts and hormones). Discuss what the novel says about:

1) the relationship between the two. Are they always the same or different? Why?

2) what influences gender? Is physical sex the only thing that determines gender? What else influences gender?

Cite several specific examples from the novel to support your ideas. Then comment on the novel's view points. Do you agree or disagree with what the novel says about the relationship between gender and physical sex? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the narrator's lives as Calliope and Cal. How are they similar? How are they different? Which identity (Cal or Calliope) do you believe is his/her "true" self?Cite several specific examples from the novel to support your ideas.

(see the answer keys)

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