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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. Where do Poppy and Alex stop for groceries?

2. Who does Poppy room with during her third year at college?

3. What Trader Joe’s offering does Poppy note enjoying?

4. What school subject does Delallo teach?

5. What campus locations does Poppy note Alex worked in their second year at college?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Poppy note will compete with her wedding or maternity for the best day of her life?

2. Why does Poppy note anticipating strain for Alex the first time he visits her parents’ house?

3. How does the narrator describe the course of her trip on Sanibel Island?

4. How does Poppy describe to herself the trip to Palm Springs she wants to take with Alex?

5. The narrator notes that her choice of a bar on her last night on Sanibel Island is unusual and prompted by strange circumstances. What are those circumstances?

6. What reasons are noted for Rachel washing her dishes in four-inch heels?

7. What reason is given for Poppy and Alex not taking a big trip after their third year of college?

8. What reasons does Poppy note for people subletting their apartments and renting their cars on an online travel group?

9. What affirmations does Poppy note her mother left on her bathroom mirror?

10. The narrator notes that “On vacation, your hair changes” (1). What reasons does she give for the changes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much of People We Meet On Vacation concerns itself with the contrast between “normal” and what the characters want for themselves. What does the novel seem to suggest “normal” is, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

What attitude does People We Meet On Vacation display towards aging? What in the novel demonstrates that attitude? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

Explicate the symbolism of the protagonist’s love-interest’s name in People We Meet On Vacation.

(see the answer keys)

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