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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. Into whose bedroom does Natalie move the Finch family Christmas tree?

2. From whom do Natalie and Augusten get more money to see a movie after their own cash has run out?

3. Who is Dr. Finch worried will seize his home?

4. How does Augusten travel to visit his mother in Amherst?

5. What courses does Augusten enroll in when he first begins his college education?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens after Deirdre meets Winnie Pye?

2. What messages does Hope claim to be receiving from the cat through her dreams?

3. How does Augusten react to Hope's sudden onset of mental instability?

4. After Neil Bookman has been gone for over a year, what realization does Augusten come to about their relationship?

5. What does Augusten witness on the last night before Deirdre is taken away by the police?

6. How do Natalie and Augusten get on at college?

7. What does Augusten explain has happened to Dr. Finch and Deirdre in the epilogue?

8. What disturbing behavior does Augusten witness from his mother during their stay in Rhode Island?

9. What does Augusten do after he realizes that Neil Bookman has disappeared?

10. What conversation between Agnes and Natalie erupts into a huge fight as the family is watching television?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The story is ultimately Augusten Burroughs' account of his childhood. Compare / contrast the boy that Augusten is in the beginning of the novel with the man that he is in the end and give one example of a scene that irrevocably changed the course of Augusten Burroughs' life.

Essay Topic 2

There are many times throughout his life that Augusten feels very alone and sought out someone to confess his emotions to.

Part 1.) Create a list of three examples in which Augusten felt alone and depressed.

Part 2.) Explain who Augusten typically chose to confess his feelings of loneliness to.

Part 3.) Explain the way that emotions and confessions shaped the relationship that Augusten had with at least one other character in the memoir.

Essay Topic 3

At the conclusion of the memoir, many readers will side with Augusten in his belief that the Finch household was a terrible place to grow up, but they were the only stability that he had as a child. Give three examples of times when the Finches proved that they had Augusten's best interests at heart, and explain why the Finches may have been portrayed in a bad light throughout the memoir.

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