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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. What does Anne indulge in?

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

3. Who is Pammy?

4. What type of parent will Anne soon become?

5. What has Sam's father recently done?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Anne end her journal of the first year of Sam's life?

2. What does Anne mean by "just take it bird by bird?"

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

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. What symbolism does Anne find in the way Sam has learned to crawl?

6. What are Anne's thoughts about her father during the Christmas holiday season?

7. How do Anne and Pammy escape the ominous cloud of Pammy's illness, even if only temporarily?

8. What is the nature of the depression that Anne experiences in Part 8?

9. What is Sam's progress during February?

10. What does Anne share about her breastfeeding problems she is experiencing in Part 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

One of the most striking characteristics of Anne's prose is her complete honesty. Explain why this is necessary to complete a book of this nature. Would a reader be able to see through fabrications and falsehoods in a book like this? Describe why this format is the perfect background for Anne's personality.

Essay Topic 3

Explain Anne's conflict of not having a husband during the early days of Sam's life. What does Anne realize about the lack of a father figure for Sam? What actions does Anne take to increase Sam's emotional support system?

(see the answer keys)

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