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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. When do Meg and Karen move into the housing development?

2. Where does Meg go after she reads Karen’s letter about the Thetan House Halloween party?

3. Which poet previously owned the jacket Temple has borrowed from Byrdie?

4. What does Byrdie use to chase the boys out of the room and save Karen from being assaulted?

5. How does it come to pass that Mike spends the day after the Thetan House Halloween party at the police station?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the costumes Karen and Temple wear to the Halloween party at Thetan House?

2. How do Lomax and Meg skate by when a local cocaine bust does not touch them?

3. What is the outcome of the court scene?

4. What kind of awakening does Temple have when he reads Invisible Man?

5. What is the sheltering sky, and what does it mean to Temple?

6. How did Karen get the nickname “Shadow” (139)?

7. How do Byrdie and Mike end up talking with the police after the party?

8. Why is Meg more afraid than comforted when she meets Diane, whom she identifies as another lesbian?

9. How does Meg finally make her breakthrough as a writer?

10. How does the narrator characterize the secret society Byrdie joins at the University of Virginia?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Evaluate your own reading of Mislaid—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate the ending of Mislaid. Does it ring true to you? Does it successfully resolve the problems and tensions that preceded it? What would you change, if anything? What are you left wishing for closure on, if anything?

Essay Topic 3

Write a character sketch of the author based on her style and content. What can we tell about her, based on the choices she makes in terms of description, characterization and plot? What values does she hold dear? What are her hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think she is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,095 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample