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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 Part Six, when Caroline goes inside to find Father hurt, what indication is there that he is not yet dead?

2. What motive does Caroline have for living in the place where she is living in Part Eight?

3. What does Caroline want to tell her sister in Part Seven?

4. When they get into the water of the hot spring, what warning does Father give Caroline about the water?

5. On the morning after their night at the hot spring, what does Father say when they see the river?

Short Essay Questions

1. What education has Caroline received since returning to Oregon?

2. How do Caroline's purchases in Boise foreshadow her plans?

3. How does Caroline support herself in Part Eight?

4. What happens during Caroline's encounter with the two sisters in the mall bathroom?

5. What happens to cause Caroline to decide against approaching Della?

6. What are the mixed feelings that Caroline has as she looks at her old house?

7. What does the reader learn has happened to one of Caroline's toes?

8. What features of Paul's does Caroline notice and find unusual?

9. When Caroline leaves her old house, where does she go next, and why?

10. Where does Caroline go after she leaves the cave?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the thematic motifs in My Abandonment is the difference between appearances and reality. Write an essay that explores how Father and Caroline's characters and the events of the story reveal the book's preoccupation with the difference between the way things seem and the way they really are. Offer textual support for your claims, and if you use outside sources, be sure to credit them in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the book's stance on education. What kinds of things can and should make up a person's education? What is the value of education, and what happens when it is lacking? Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

Peter Rock has said in interviews that no other narrative voice would work for this story other than Caroline's. Write an essay that examines how Caroline's narrative voice supports the novel's theme. Be sure to support your ideas with evidence from the text.

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