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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 is Strane unable to handle, as he explains on page 140?

2. What does Vanessa’s mother see on page 184 that confirms the truth of the relationship between Vanessa and Strane?

3. In the spring of Vanessa’s sophomore year, Strane’s literature class takes a field trip to see the home of which American artist?

4. How does Strane’s behavior reflect an agitated state of mind on page 83?

5. How does Vanessa feel on page 59?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Vanessa tell her mother about Jacob on page 135, and how does her mother respond?

2. Who is Taylor Birch and what does she post to Facebook, as Vanessa discovers at the opening of the novel?

3. According to Strane following Vanessa’s conversation with Jenny, what would happen to Vanessa if anyone found out about their affair?

4. What happens during the field trip to see Andrew Wyeth’s home? Who witnesses this interaction?

5. According to Strane on page 4, why might he be found guilty of assault?

6. What odd request does Strane make a Vanessa on page 133? How does she respond?

7. Who is Ruby and what does she and Vanessa discuss about abusers on page 9?

8. Whose poetry does Strane give Vanessa to read while she is still his student? What is the effect of this poetry on Vanessa?

9. What strange gift does Strane give to Vanessa when she first goes to visit him at his house?

10. How does Strane begin laying the groundwork for predatory behavior in the very first class Vanessa has with him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Appearances in My Dark Vanessa can be deceiving. How do appearances differ from reality in this novel? Discuss three characters, objects, or situations and how this idea applies to each.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the author’s choice to tell this story by using the first-person perspective. How does viewing the action through a first-person perspective affect the story? How would the novel change if the story was told through the third person?

Essay Topic 3

What do you think the future has in store for Vanessa and Jo after the close of the novel? Predict Vanessa’s future based on her thoughts and actions over the course of the novel as well as the growth she experiences at the end.

(see the answer keys)

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