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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 Lana fear is happening to Sylvia from what Sylvia tells Lana about Devon in Chapter 29?

2. What does Sylvia find herself doing on the phone to Marcus in Chapter 33 that she had not planned on doing?

3. What memory does Lana share with Sylvia when Sylvia says their father was not that bad?

4. How did everyone else refer to Lana's shop?

5. What does Ava do at the reservoir?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 27, what does JJ remember about doing together with his father when he was a child?

2. What does Ava hope might happen when she and JJ go to the spot where Devon died?

3. What happens when Joy's car breaks down and she needs to call her brother to give her and Devon a ride home in chapter 30?

4. In Chapter 27, what does JJ remember about what happened in his childhood after his father won a big hand at poker?

5. Why does Sylvia seem to decide she can not help Marcus any longer in Chapter 33?

6. When JJ calls Ava in Chapter 19, how does she realize her feelings for him differ from her feelings for Henry?

7. What does Lana suggest that she and Sylvia do together in Chapter 29 to calm themselves a bit?

8. What errand does Sylvia take Lana with her to do in Chapter 22 that is related to Marcus?

9. What does Ava do when she visits the reservoir with JJ in Chapter 34 that is dangerous and unexpected?

10. What kinds of emotions does Sylvia experience the first time Ava brings her to JJ's house on Brushy Mountain Road?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the meaning of Ava's and Henry's reconciliation at the novel's conclusion. Has Henry achieved redemption? Cite specific references to the text in your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Of all the characters in the novel, which character or characters seem to have achieved the greatest degree of peace and contentment by the end? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 3

What do you think Sylvia means when she tells Frank Ferguson "There's no getting beyond some things" (353)? Write an essay explaining your answer, taking into account both Sylvia's and Frank's fraught relationships with their own children.

(see the answer keys)

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