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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 restricted the intimate moments between Bruce and Nola?

2. Why is Bruce intrigued by the box given to him by the funeral director?

3. What religion did the Mulders practice?

4. The author uses the literary technique of ______________ to show Nola's future relationship with Bailey.

5. The only two members of Nola's family that Bruce likes are her brother and ____________.

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author show Bruce's affections for his mother regarding his going to the prom?

2. What did Bruce do when it became apparent that Bailey was hitting on Nola?

3. What game did the couples play when Bruce and Nola accompanied Bailey and his girlfriend to a cabin one weekend?

4. What were the circumstances that prompted Bruce to go to law school?

5. How does Bruce violate his instincts about bringing any friends into their home?

6. How did Nola avoid having sex with Bruce in the cabin that weekend?

7. What was the only life Bruce had ever envisioned for his future?

8. What does the author reveal about the way Chet had died?

9. Other than leaving Nola, what complicated Bruce's decision regarding going to law school?

10. What does Bruce recall about his brother, Chet's, life?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the concept of loneliness as it exhibits in the story. Which of the characters are lonely? Are they all lonely in some way? Explain the loneliness and the methods and attempts to overcome it.

Essay Topic 2

Bruce spends some alone time throughout the novel to contemplate his life. What does he think about? What conclusions does he arrive at? Explain why he is in a contemplative mood at this point in time.

Essay Topic 3

The author begins the story in the present day and tells the story through a series of flashbacks. Why did he choose to tell his story this way? In what way is a flashback technique more interesting for a reader? In what ways is it more complicated?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 980 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample