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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 city does Maria have her abortion in?

2. What is the name of Maria's father's business partner?

3. According to BZ, what does Larry Kulik have to do to be able to sleep with the young girl at Anita Garson's?

4. How does Maria respond to Carter when he says, regarding the baby's father, "I suppose you're going to tell me it's not mine"?

5. What phrase does Helene's friends who are about ten years older than Helene say to one another?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. When Maria thinks of the men that she has been intimate in her life, what conclusion does she come to and how is it important to the novel?

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

5. What is the tone of Helene's recollections of Maria 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. How do Larry Kulik and BZ behave around the girl in the white halter dress at a party Maria attends and why is it significant?

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

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

10. What does Maria's unannounced visit to her agent, Freddy Chaikin, reveal about her profession as an actress and the business of movie-making?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss autobiographical elements in "Play It as It Lays". What aspects of Didion's life is portrayed in the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the portrayal of marriage in the novel.

Compare and contrast Maria and Carter's marriage with BZ and Helene's marriage. What are their similarities and differences?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the importance of Maria's dreams in the novel. Choose 2 dreams and analyze their significance.

(see the answer keys)

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