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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. According to Helene, what is Maria's manner like when she sees her by the swimming pool at the hospital as the novel opens?
(a) Upset.
(b) Relaxed.
(c) Anxious.
(d) Happy.

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

3. Maria's mother ran her car off the highway outside of what town?
(a) Topeka.
(b) Toledo.
(c) Tonopah.
(d) Tacoma.

4. Maria claimed she was raised to believe that what came in on the next roll would always be _____ than what went out on the last.
(a) Better.
(b) Worse.
(c) The same.
(d) None of the above.

5. What object does Maria later try to remember if the doctor took with him when he left the bedroom?
(a) A speculum.
(b) A pail.
(c) A scalpel.
(d) A depressor.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is the volume of the movie that man watches in the next room where Maria has her abortion turned up?

2. What pastime does Maria begin to do after Carter stops living in the house in Beverly Hills?

3. Before Maria can have the abortion, what does the doctor want to know, according to the man she speaks with on the phone?

4. As the novel opens, what meal does Carter like to have out?

5. When Maria lived in New York, what did she do?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is the location of Maria's abortion and what does it represent?

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

4. What is the coral snake Maria thinks about as the novel opens a metaphor of?

5. What memory does Carter have of Maria and the baby and what does it reveal about Maria?

6. What kind of man was Maria's father and what impact did it have on Maria?

7. Who is Paulette and what is Maria's relationship to her?

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

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

10. When Maria asks if Carter and she are separated when he returns home, how does he respond and why is it significant?

(see the answer keys)

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