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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 Jean's mother see in a child when she decided she wanted one?

2. Where does Jean's mom get her a new mac?

3. Why was Jean's mother suspicious of a package that came from Wigan?

4. What important notion does Elsie impart to Jean?

5. What does Jean realize when her sampler does not win in a school contest?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the headmistress call Jean into her office for? Why? What is Jean's response?

2. Describe how the church community misunderstood Jean's deafness. What did they say about her?

3. What are some things Jean's mother did for the Society for the Lost? Was she effective?

4. How is Jean's deafness discovered?

5. How does Jean get to go the fair once a year? What happens to her there one year with a palm reader?

6. Who is Elsie? Describe her.

7. How does her mother tell the story of Jean's adoption?

8. Who is the prince in the story, and what does he believe he wants?

9. Who does Jean eventually get a Saturday job from? What does she do?

10. Explain why this statement is relevant to Jean's predicament at school: "What constitutes a problem is not the thing, or the environment where we find the thing, but the conjunction of the two."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At one point Jean describes her mother as "Old Testament." What do we mean by that phrase?

Part 1. Describe the Biblical Old Testament.

Part 2. Describe the Biblical New Testament, comparing and contrasting it to the Old Testament.

Part 3. Give some examples and explanations about things that might be referred to as Old Testament.

Essay Topic 2

Jean's mother, whose name we never actually learn, is one of the most overwhelming characters of the book and it is her hands more than any that shape Jean's childhood.

Part 1. Describe Jean's mother.

Part 2. Jean described her mother as "Old Testament." What does she mean?

Part 3. What hints are we given into Jean's mother's past that indicate she might not be entirely as she seems. What hints are we given and what can we guess?

Essay Topic 3

One of the five fundamental components of story telling discussed is that of plot.

Part 1. What is plot? How can it be manipulated?

Part 2 What are the elements of plot? Do they usually follow a pattern?

Part 3. What role does conflict play in plot? What are the four common types of conflict?

Part 4. What is the central conflict that drives the plot?

(see the answer keys)

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