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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 Laurel listen for but never hear?

2. Who are the bridesmaids?

3. What does Dr. Courtland say about Judge's eye three weeks after the surgery?

4. How are they transported to the hospital?

5. Why does Laurel believe her father would not have wanted an open coffin?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the pictures and books in her father's library symbolize to Laurel?

2. Where does Laurel expect her father to be buried?

3. What does Laurel find in the house when she returns from dinner?

4. Why does Judge chose a doctor in New Orleans rather than one close to home?

5. Who is waiting when the train arrives in Judge's hometown?

6. What is discussed over dinner after the funeral?

7. In Chapter 1, what causes the tensions between Laurel and Fay?

8. How did Judge react to his wife's illness toward the end of her life?

9. Why does Laurel return to the hospital?

10. Why does Laurel refuse to gossip about Fay?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of the breadboard? Who made the breadboard? Who used it? Why does its destruction upset Laurel so much? Who destroyed it? Why? What does this destruction say about this person? How does the discovery of this breadboard help Laurel heal?

Essay Topic 2

Who are the bridesmaids? Why do they call themselves that? Why are they waiting when Laurel and Fay arrive home by train? How does Fay react to their presence? How should she have reacted? What are Fay's motivations for reacting so negatively to these people?

Essay Topic 3

Why is Judge reluctant to engage in confrontations? Is this unusual for a man who makes his living as a judge? How did this reluctance to argue affect Judge's marriages? How did Judge's first wife feel about his reluctance to deal with her anger or her health issues? How did Laurel feel about it? Did this behavior save Judge from emotional entanglements, or make them worse? How?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 990 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample