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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 city is Anne's baby born?

2. The diary entries in Part 2 encompass ___________________________ of Sam's life.

3. What does Anne admit is one of her worst personality traits?

4. Who is not thrilled about Sam's arrival?

5. What is Anne's greatest fear about having a boy?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Anne feel about breastfeeding now that she has become comfortable with it?

2. What does Anne's therapist remind Anne of when Anne laments that maybe she is not good enough to have a husband?

3. How does Anne exhibit what she calls one of her worst personality traits?

4. What does Anne recall about her own seventh and eighth grade experiences that she finds the prospect of Sam's living through them so daunting?

5. How has Sam's birth affected Anne and the people in her life?

6. Explain Anne's belief in God and her faith that He will provide for her and Sam.

7. Anne's thirty-sixth birthday and her deceased father's birthday complicate Anne's emotional state?

8. Explain what it is that Anne learns how to do which had previously been difficult for her.

9. What is the premise for Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year

10. How has Sam's arrival influenced Anne's relationship with her mother?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Even though Anne was not married to Sam's father they did have a relatively strong relationship and it hurt her deeply when he left after the revelation of her pregnancy. Explain the act of abandonment. How does it impact those who are left behind as well as those who leave? Is an abandoned person always expecting to be abandoned again? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Anne's father was also a writer and the family has a volatile income which did not provide much security. Do you think that Anne is afraid that she has inherited her father's fluctuating financial patterns as well as his gift for words? Explain what qualities Anne has that will not allow her to follow in all of her father's footsteps.

Essay Topic 3

Explain the role of religion and spirituality in Anne's life. What is the nature of Anne's particular devotion to the Virgin Mary? How does Anne exhibit her beliefs in her everyday life?

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