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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. What does Lisa admire about her mother?

2. How old was Lisa when she got married?

3. Who does Claudia call an "unprincipled bastard?"

4. When Claudia is 31, what does she ask from God in prayer?

5. What gift does Claudia receive in the desert?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sylvia feel about living in the U.S. for six months out of the year?

2. What makes Sylvia uncomfortable about Gordon's relationship with Claudia and how does she handle it?

3. Discuss Claudia's relationship with her roommate in Chapter 7.

4. In Chapter 2, what stab at Jasper's character does Gordon take and why is it ironic?

5. What is Claudia's opinion about Sylvia?

6. What is unique about Claudia's job in Cairo?

7. What is the first gift given to Claudia by Tom, and what does she do with it?

8. How old is Claudia when she becomes agnostic? What causes her decision?

9. What is ironic about the hippos Claudia and Tom see in the Cairo Zoo?

10. How competitive is Claudia against her brother, and what memory first shows this competitiveness to the reader?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the unusual aspects of Claudia's relationship with Gordon. What, other than their short term incestuous relationship, makes them unique?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Claudia with Sylvia. How are they alike? How are they different? What role does each play in Gordon's life?

Essay Topic 3

Identify the protagonist and antagonist in this story. In what ways are the two characters similar? What are their differences? What is the relationship of the protagonist and antagonist in this novel? How might the story have differed if another character was the antagonist? Select a character and write about the difference you would expect.

(see the answer keys)

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