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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 is the major that Kay eventually declares when she is at college?

2. Which of the sisters suffers the most from parental inattention of all in the family?

3. Margaret Ellen Powell is hired by the Meyerses in order to raise the ________ children they will eventually have.

4. To where do Agnes and Eugene finally move their children to live?

5. Who is the dominant influence in the lives of Phil and Kay, reveling in gossip, arguments, and irreverence?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Kay think it is wiser for her to do since she is the daughter of a publisher?

2. Where do the Meyers spend their summers after spending their winters in Washington?

3. What is Philip Graham doing when Kay Meyer first meets him in Washington?

4. What does Kay do with her time when Phil is off at court?

5. What does Mother think of the women that she meets when she is living in Washington with Eugene?

6. What do the Grahams do as they must cooperate on labor relations at their papers?

7. What is the offer that Kay accepts from the Washington Post as she continues to keep company with her father?

8. What is the state of the Washington Post when Father decides to buy it to rejuvenate it?

9. What frustrates Kay when she is staying in the town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as Phil is sent to Boot Camp?

10. Why does Phil denounce the efforts of the Teamsters to unionize the Post's circulation?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Phil finally has his breakdown, though it's not something that would be entirely shocking to those who knew him, the breakdown is covered up as much as possible.

Part 1: Why do you think Phil's family thought it would be a good idea to hide Phil's condition from the public?

Part 2: Do you think the society of the time was comfortable with the idea of mental illness? Why or why not?

Part 3: How might the perception of the Post and of Phil have changed if his illness were public knowledge?

Essay Topic 2

The theme of sexism runs rampant in this book, with even Kay's father telling her that no man should be working for his wife when Kay's husband is given the position at the Post as opposed to her.

Part 1: Why do you think Kay's father thought that Phil was up to the task for the job?

Part 2: Do you think Kay would have made a better editor than Phil did? Why or why not?

Part 3: Why do you think that men though women were less able to handle the stresses of the newspaper world?

Essay Topic 3

Kay's love life seems to become less and less of a concern once her husband has died and she begins leading the newspaper.

Part 1: Kay notes that she is married to her job once Phil dies. What does this mean?

Part 2: Do you think that Kay even had time for romantic relationships?

Part 3: What might have happened had Kay gotten married again? Would she have been the same sort of wife she was to Phil?

(see the answer keys)

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