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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 did M send to L and Brett to get a list of items they might need from the nearest town?

2. Why did Brett want M to buy new bed linens?

3. How old was L when he first became famous?

4. What does the narrator say Tony "does not show weakness of" (22)?

5. What word does the narrator use to describe the writer with whom she spent her last night in Paris?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does L behave at the harbor town when M and Tony first meet him?

2. How does the narrator describe the man she met on the train in Paris? What was he doing? Why did she not say something?

3. What issue did Brett have with the bed linen in the second place? What did she want M to do?

4. What did the narrator do on her final night in Paris and with whom?

5. How did Kurt help M when trying to explain what Justine and Kurt needed to move into the main house so L could stay in the second place?

6. What do readers learn about Tony's backstory in the third chapter?

7. What does the narrator say her first experience with L coincided with? What did she think L's visit would do in terms of her recovery?

8. What does Tony say to M when she gets angry with him after L says he is not staying with them?

9. Where was L when M first wrote to him? What did he say about the idea of being alone? Where did he say he felt most alone and free?

10. What did Tony and M do to prepare the second place for L's arrival?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a brief essay analyzing the title Second Place. Explore the ways in which this title connects to the plot and themes of the story.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss elements of the narrative structure: Exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the novel's themes?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the author of Second Place. Who is she? What else has she written? How is Second Place similar or different from her previous works?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 751 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample