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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. Who spits into the phone, saying to Maria, "You want to know what I think of your life"?

2. Whom does Maria call when the blood become so fast she soaks three pads in fifteen minutes?

3. According to Maria, the story of the girl who had an abortion, seemed what as she told it?

4. During Christmas dinner, what gift from Felicia does Kate smash against the mirror?

5. On the set of the television show in which she has a guest appearance, why does Maria pray that the cameramen would be slow with the set-ups?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Maria realize about the day of the audition?

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

3. Why does Carter want Maria to stay with him in the desert where he is shooting and what happens?

4. How does Maria react when she begins to bleed after the abortion and why?

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

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

7. What does Maria remember about meeting BZ for the first time and what does it foreshadow?

8. What happens when Maria and Kate have dinner at Felicia and Les Goodwin's house during the Christmas holiday and why is it significant?

9. What does Larry Kulik tell Maria about what people are saying about her and what does it signify?

10. How does Maria prepare to meet Les in a hotel room and what happens when he arrives?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss symbolism in the novel. Compare and contrast highways and plumbing as symbols in the novel.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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