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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What type of bird does Maria watch at the hospital as the novel opens?
(a) A blue jay.
(b) A sparrow.
(c) A hummingbird.
(d) A woodpecker.

2. In the elevator of Freddy Chaikin's office, who tells Maria, "The word on Carter's dailies is sensational"?
(a) BZ.
(b) An agent.
(c) An actor.
(d) Freddy.

3. Why is the volume of the movie that man watches in the next room where Maria has her abortion turned up?
(a) Because the man is deaf.
(b) To drown out any screaming.
(c) So that she could hear it.
(d) The dial is broken.

4. As the novel opens, whom does Helene say she does NOT visit Maria at the hospital for?
(a) Helene.
(b) Carter.
(c) BZ.
(d) Maria.

5. After Carter stops living in the house in Beverly Hills, where does Maria begin to sleep?
(a) By the pool.
(b) At the beach.
(c) In the car.
(d) On the deck.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Maria consumed by after her mother's death when she lived in New York?

2. What does Helene see Maria wearing when she visits the hospital as the novel opens?

3. What is the name of the first picture Carter made with Maria that never got distributed?

4. According to Carter, what does the hospital where Kate is staying tell him about Maria's frequent visits to see her daughter?

5. According to Maria, what object signifies that her new sleeping arrangement is just temporary?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Maria's mother die and why is it significant?

2. What does Maria do the first month after she and Carter break up and what does it signify?

3. How does BZ respond to Maria's inquiries about whom Carter is sleeping with and what does it signify?

4. Where does Maria begin to sleep after her breakup with Carter and why is it significant?

5. Who is Benny Austin and what does he represent in the novel?

6. What is the only time in Maria's day where she does not think about the past nor is overcome with dread?

7. What is the tone of Helene's recollections of Maria and why is it significant?

8. What does Maria do when she moves to New York and why is it significant?

9. Why does Kate live in a facility for special needs children?

10. What kind of arrangements does Maria have to make in order to terminate her pregnancy at this time?

(see the answer keys)

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