View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Marion try to wake Harry when he needs to get ready for his first night of work?

2. What do the memories of other cultures and life arouse in Marion?

3. What hope does Marion have every night?

4. How does Marion treat Arnold when he tries to behave as her psychiatrist?

5. What does Harry plan to buy Sara?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Harry want to buy Sara a television?

2. Why is Harry's daydream at Tyrone's apartment important to the theme of the novel?

3. What is the progress of Sara's diet as she tries to diet alone?

4. What is ironic about Harry's remark that "juice heads are too much, aren't they? They really have no class, no class at all"?

5. Looking at the kind of food Marion buys, how does this relate to her life?

6. Why would Marion ask Arnold about his wife?

7. What does Sara's reaction to the phone call from Lyle Russel say about her life?

8. What does Marion's increased involvement with Harry and Tyrone as their drug business begins foreshadow?

9. Why are Tyrone and Harry able to function at work?

10. What enabled Marion to have the past life she fondly remembers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the motif of damaged mother and son relationships grow throughout the novel?

Essay Topic 2

How does Marion's relationship with Big Tim signify the completion of her downfall?

Essay Topic 3

What is the literary effect of the story zigzagging between Harry and Sara's drug dependencies and downfalls?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 786 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample