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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 the name of the lake by Vanessa’s home, as revealed on page 20?

2. What is the name of the publication for which Janine Bailey is writing her exposé?

3. What general safety tool is distributed to the female students on page 16?

4. According to Vanessa on page 173, who is to blame for the rumors involving her and Strane?

5. As the novel begins, Vanessa is compulsively reading what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Vanessa indicate about her memories involving Strane on page 7?

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

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

4. What happens to Vanessa psychologically during her first kiss with Strane on page 83?

5. Why does Jenny approach Vanessa in the winter of their sophomore year? How does Vanessa respond?

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

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

8. Who writes a letter to the board regarding the relationship between Vanessa and Strane? What is the initial result of this letter?

9. What psychological phenomenon happens to Vanessa when Strane first initiates physical contact on page 45?

10. What club does Vanessa join? Why? Whom does she meet there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

While teaching a lesson on Longfellow, Strane remarks that “the world is made of endlessly intersecting stories, each one valid and true” (21). How does the novel support or refute this claim?

Essay Topic 2

The role of power is a major theme of My Dark Vanessa. Choose three situations in which this theme is illustrated. Explain how each situation illustrates the theme of power, and evaluate what the author is trying to say about this subject.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the characters of Ms. Thompson, Mrs. Antonova, and Mrs. Giles. How do these characters attempt to help Vanessa in the novel? How do they unwittingly harm her? How do they further develop the novel’s themes?

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This section contains 720 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample