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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. Where was the narrator heading when she met someone on a train which changed the course of her life?

2. What did Tony want in the second place, which M did not?

3. How did Tony's parents die?

4. What did L ask M when he wrote that he was staying in Rio de Janeiro?

5. Though the second place was built for M, who did Tony say would likely think it was for them?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Where did L stay instead of coming to the second place? What happened to him while there? Where did he invite M during that winter?

3. 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?

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

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

6. What did the narrator tell L about his artwork's impact on her life when she invited him to stay in the second place?

7. What does the narrator feel L's painting emanated when she first saw them that morning in Paris, which compelled her to follow it to the art gallery?

8. What did Tony find after clearing the adjacent land he bought near the marsh? What did he do there?

9. What is M's impression of Brett when she first meets her?

10. What do readers learn of L's backstory in the fourth chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Pick a character from the novel and discuss their goals and motives. Do they achieve their motive? Do they share similar goals and motives with other characters? Do their goals clash with other characters? How do the characters' goals and motives affect their interaction with each other?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing Cusk's commentary on art in Second Place. How is art important to the story? How does it affect the narrative? Use textual evidence to explain your analysis.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Cusk’s focus on gender as presented in Second Place.

(see the answer keys)

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