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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 is Marianne's best friend for the longest period of college?

2. Which one of Marianne's friends throws a party in May of 2012 to celebrate the end of exams?

3. Sitting on the bus with Helen, Connell mentally applies all but which of the following adjectives to Marianne?

4. Who thinks Connell brags about Marianne too often?

5. What is the name of Connell's roommate during his early college years?

Short Essay Questions

1. What simile does Rooney use to describe Connell's feelings about writing and why?

2. What does Connell find troubling about the financial arrangements among Marianne, Lorraine, and himself?

3. How does Connell come to rely on Marianne in college?

4. What are Connell's impressions of Alan and from whence do these impressions emerge?

5. What does it mean to Connell when he wins the full scholarship to graduate school?

6. What aspect of Connell and Marianne's high school relationship remains intact in their adult relationship?

7. What is Marianne's reply when Peggy asks about Marianne's hang-ups?

8. How is the motif of violence depicted within Connell's feelings about Jamie?

9. How do Connell and Marianne come to meet up in Europe during the summer of 2013?

10. What plans does Marianne make for her third year of college?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Could Normal People be classified as a coming-of-age story? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Sensory details are used frequently by Rooney in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of Normal People. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Rooney’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

Essay Topic 3

Provide a thorough analysis of the denouement of Rooney's novel Normal People.

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This section contains 840 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample