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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 time is it essential for Maria to embark on her new pastime?

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

3. According to Maria, what do some people in the hospital where she is committed call her?

4. According to Carter, what two places does he like to eat alone and read the trades?

5. What does Maria say to the baby after Carter warns her about the baby getting chilled?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. In the period before Maria has her abortion, what rituals does she perform in order to induce menstruation and why does she do them?

4. Why does Carter tell Maria tell Kate that it is not good for her to visit Kate unannounced and what does it reveal about Kate's treatment?

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

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

7. When Freddy offers Maria an opportunity for Morty Landau to see film of her, what does her response indicate about her priorities?

8. What time does Maria want to be on the freeway and why is it significant?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the importance of rituals in the novel.

1. What rituals does Maria enact and why?

2. What is the relationship between ritual and superstition?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss mental illness as a theme in the novel.

1. How is treatment of mental illness represented in the novel?

2. What is Maria's familial history with mental illness?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of class in the novel.

1. What is the impact of class mobility on the characters?

2. How are differences in class represented?

(see the answer keys)

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