View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which character does middle sister consider to be an "armchair supporter" (112) of renouncers, rather than an actual renouncer?
(a) Somebody McSomebody.
(b) The milkman.
(c) Da.
(d) First brother-in-law.

2. Middle sister notes that French teacher has "an unnerving amount of" (69) what?
(a) Nerve.
(b) Curiosity.
(c) Humor.
(d) Brilliance.

3. What malady does middle sister admit to having in Chapter 3?
(a) Anxiety.
(b) Hepatitis.
(c) Depression.
(d) Lupus.

4. Which character is middle sister's favorite running partner?
(a) First brother-in-law.
(b) Maybe-boyfriend.
(c) Third brother-in-law.
(d) Thingy.

5. How many sunsets must French teacher's students write about for homework after their discussion?
(a) 2.
(b) 3.
(c) 4.
(d) 1.

Short Answer Questions

1. What name is used throughout the novel to refer to maybe-boyfriend's best friend?

2. With whom does middle sister nearly collide when she stands up in the ten-minute area after picking up the head of an animal?

3. The only person in middle sister's neighborhood who is widely regarded as a shiny person is the sister of which character?

4. Which character asks middle sister to go along on a sunset-viewing expedition?

5. What kinds of abandoned buildings occupy the location called "the ten-minute area" (81)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the ten-minute-area?

2. What event convinces middle sister that the tactics she has been using to ward off the milkman are not working?

3. Why are the students in middle sister's French class so loathe to hear the sky described as any other color besides blue?

4. Which answers are said to be "acceptable" (72) when one is asked the color of the sky in middle sister's society?

5. Who is the milkman?

6. Discuss one quality within French teacher's personality that qualifies her as a "beyond-the-pale," (69) according to middle sister.

7. What evidence does middle sister provide for her claim that third brother-in-law should have been designated as a "beyond-the-pale" (41) by now, but that he has not?

8. Which character does middle sister suspect of having started a rumor about herself and an older man?

9. With which aspect of middle sister's habit of walking while reading does third brother-in-law take issue and why?

10. Describe an instance when sound is used to underscore a particular theme within Chapter 1.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,258 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample