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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. In their life together, how does John help Kate?

2. What do prescription drugs do for Kate?

3. What does Aunt Emily enjoy giving?

4. How many men have proposed to Kate?

5. Who does John call instead of Kate?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does John feel about his family at the end of the book?

2. What does Kate think the worst that can happen to John is?

3. When John talks to Kate, what does she say she was really trying to do?

4. Why is Kate so angry with John?

5. What has happened since John last saw Kate?

6. What does the reader learn about Aunt Emily?

7. What does the reader learn about Kate in this section?

8. What does John realize about his life search?

9. Why doesn't Kate like Harold's wife?

10. Who has died in John's family?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1. How is Aunt Emily's letter opener symbolic of the way she feels towards John?

2. Explain why Aunt Emily feels differently towards her nephew. What has he done to change her mind about him?

Essay Topic 2

Kate and Aunt Emily are two matriarchal figures in John's life that pressure him to make different decisions.

1. Although Kate thinks she is very different than Aunt Emily, how are the characters the same? Why do they control so much of John's thoughts?

2. Explain why Kate is Aunt Emily's foil in the novel.

3. What life choices does Kate pressure John to make? How is her pressuring any different than the high standards that Aunt Emily has for John?

Essay Topic 3

1. How is the theme of money inadvertently explored throughout the book?

2. John's family seems to be a staple of New Orleans society. How does having money make the family influential to the rest of the community?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 672 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample