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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 Melissa envision herself wearing at her imaginary wedding?

2. What does Stephanie suggest Damian needs to do to get his life and his mood back on track?

3. What is Damian having a hard time coming to terms with in Chapter 2?

4. What ethnic background does Michael most strongly identify with?

5. What is Melissa trying to write about in Chapter 5?

Short Essay Questions

1. What game does Ria want to play with Damian's and Stephanie's children in Chapter 3?

2. What large project does the former occupant of Melissa and Michael's house undertake just before his marriage falls apart?

3. What is the short poem that begins the novel about, and who wrote it?

4. What grief is Damian dealing with in Chapter 2?

5. At Ria's school's cultural night, who steals the show?

6. What is a large source of problems in Damian's and Stephanie's relationship?

7. Why had Michael's relationship with Gillian not worked out?

8. What does Ria often wear that is first mentioned in Chapter 3?

9. What does Melissa see on the street near the church by their house in Chapter 6 that scares her, and why does it scare her?

10. Why does Mrs. Jackson need help in Chapter 3?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is the middle-aged woman who performs the Greek dance at Ria's school's annual cultural night different from Michael, Melissa, Stephanie, and Damian? What does the woman, and her joyful, free dancing, represent? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay explaining how Evans' explanation of Melissa's first experiences in the house at 13 Paradise Row set the reader's expectation for the role the house itself plays in the action for the remainder of the novel.

Essay Topic 3

How does Evans use descriptions of sex and sexual intimacy between characters to convey a sense of the strength and weaknesses in sets of relationships in this novel? Write an essay explaining your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 647 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample