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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 name of the girl in the nightgown at BZ and Helene's who asks for coffee and loves New Year's Eve?

2. What did the girl Maria worked with have to do in order to get a legal D & C?

3. What is the name of the casino where Maria runs into Benny Austin?

4. When Carter and Helene ask Maria questions at Neuropsychiatric, what three things does she answer about her plans for the future?

5. According to Maria, who probably pages her at the casino where she has run out on Benny Austin?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Maria leaves a party with an actor and they have sex and why is it significant?

2. How does Maria get home from Vegas after being arrested and why is it significant?

3. When Maria wakes up and finds Helene and BZ in the room with her, what vague notion does Maria have and what does it mean?

4. When Ivan Costello returns Maria's phone call, how does he behave and what does it signify?

5. What happened the last time Maria saw her mother and how does it parallel Maria's situation?

6. What did the girl Maria knew who had an abortion do to obtain one and how does she tell her story?

7. What fantasy does Maria have about Les and Kate and what does she realize about it?

8. How does BZ respond to Maria's pleas that he stop hitting Helene the night after she blacks out?

9. What does watching the television and reading the newspaper reveal about Maria's state of mind?

10. What does Maria do when she runs into Benny Austin at the Flamingo and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the setting of the novel.

1. What role does the setting have in relation to the plot?

2. What is the relationship between the landscape and character development?

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

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