View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Connell's mother gives Connell what advice about Marianne?

2. What color is Lorraine's hair?

3. What part of Marianne's body does Alan injure during their altercation?

4. What is Marianne's last name?

5. What type of drink does Marianne order at the fundraising dance, though she has never before drunk hard alcohol?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the theme of self-deception demonstrated within the novel?

2. What is one theme present within the epigraph of Normal People?

3. How does Alan react when Marianne refuses to speak to Connell on the phone?

4. Describe the relationship between Marianne and her brother Alan.

5. Who is Miss Neary?

6. What comment of Marianne's does Connell repeat to himself and why?

7. What comment does Marianne make about her appearance when she sees Connell for the first time since high school and how does he react?

8. What event brings Lorraine and Connell to the hospital in April of 2011?

9. What event occurs just prior to Marianne's decision to quit high school?

10. What had Connell's sexual experiences been like prior to meeting Marianne?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the function of Jamie's character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by Rooney in depicting Jamie and include in your discussion the reasons that Rooney portrays Jamie in these particular ways.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Rooney’s use of metaphor, simile, imagery, and other literary devices as a means to send particular thematic messages within the narrative of Normal People.

Essay Topic 3

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Rooney’s novel Normal People. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 986 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample