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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 does Nadia ask Rachel about marriage one day?

2. When Tara recalls her 3-year-old self, what does she remember that the Nepali government banned?

3. Who is Rachel's brother?

4. After Rachel tells her brother to consider smoking weed, what is his answer?

5. What is the first documentary Tara makes about?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Frankie, Tara's mother, turn down Gil's marriage proposal when they are 19?

2. What does Tara's friend, Tracey, make a film about and how does Tara feel about it?

3. What does Tara's father, Matthew, do for a living once in Kathmandu?

4. What things during dinner with his father does Bud learn about the world?

5. How does Rachel describe the personality of the nickname "Sister Susie," which Kirk fondly calls her?

6. By the end of Chapter 4, how does Rachel feel about her brother moving back in with Kirk and now Ethan?

7. When Saul expresses that he feels hopeless and there is nothing that he wants anymore, how does Rachel counter this point?

8. Describe how Nadia and Rachel first meet Ethan, Kirk's new boyfriend.

9. What story does Bud tell Lizzie and her roommates after he runs away to her apartment?

10. When Bud goes to his late father's house with his siblings, what does he give up?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing Joe's relationship with Veronica. How would you describe how they feel towards each other after Veronica's husband died? What is the significance of their relationship? How does it evolve and change?

Essay Topic 2

After her father's death, Ethan's sister becomes angry at her father for spending too much of his money, arguing that he did not leave enough for her and her own children. Write an essay analyzing Ethan's mother's reaction to her daughter's expression of anger. Explain the different ways these two family members view money.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout Secrets of Happiness, each chapter is narrated by a different character's point of view, which lends the novel to myriad voices and perspectives. Write an essay analyzing Joan Silber's choice to structure the novel this way. How do the various points of view affect the plot of the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 888 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample