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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. In what month does Connell tell Marianne that he is taking Rachel to the Debs?

2. What emotion does Connell feel when Lorraine suggests that he is from a different class than Marianne is?

3. For whose family does Connell's mother work?

4. At what age did Connell's mother get pregnant with Connell?

5. Which of Connell's friends tells Marianne in front of other people that she is flat-chested?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of Connell's interpretation of the story circulated about Marianne?

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

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

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

5. What story is continually told about Marianne during her high school years?

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

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

8. When the reader joins Connell in the fall of his first year of college, to what changes has he had to adapt?

9. Who is Miss Neary?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is the topic of communication treated within Normal People and how does its treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the novel Normal People from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze Rooney’s focus on the theme of control in Normal People. What message is Rooney sending about the desire to control and to be controlled?

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