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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. Who does Ava think that Sylvia had an affair with when Ava was a little girl?

2. What does JJ ask the waitress at the front counter as soon as he and Ava get to Simmy's?

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

4. What is the name of the woman JJ tells Ava he has been in a relationship with?

5. Where does Sylvia say she is going to go with Ava at the start of Chapter 32?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Jimmy Patterson try to do for Devon in Chapter 30?

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

4. What does Sylvia tell Ava about her opinion about Ava and JJ's relationship in Chapter 28?

5. Why is JJ hesitant to bring Ava to Simmy's to eat the first time he sees her in Pinewood after decades?

6. 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?

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

8. What memory about working for a white family does Don share with Jonnie in Chapter 25?

9. What does Ava tell JJ in Chapter 20 about how she felt toward Henry's child when she first saw him?

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 analyzing the meaning of JJ's dream in Chapter 44. What do you think Watts is trying to say about JJ's feelings about Ava, Pinewood, and JJ's own future?

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

Write an essay exploring why Ava decides to leave JJ's house with Henry in Chapter 38, immediately following his failed suicide attempt. What did her actions portend about the future of hers and JJ's relationship?

(see the answer keys)

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