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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 Lizzie, Sally's sister's best friend, have waiting at her apartment after picking up Bud from the train station?

2. How does Rachel describe her sexual history?

3. Where do Frankie and Matthew raise Tara and her sister, Apsara?

4. What is Rachel's profession?

5. To which city in the Philippines does Angelica take Bud for Christmas?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. After Matthew gets his job at Devils Postpile National Monument, what do he and Frankie argue about?

3. How does Bud describe his relationship with Sally?

4. What happens when Bud runs away from home for the first time?

5. What does Tara's former boyfriend, whom she dates in her 20s, tell her about money?

6. What idea does Bud come up with for temporary employment while living at Lizzie's apartment?

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

8. How does Rachel react to the news that her brother's boyfriend, Kirk, is making him leave his apartment?

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

10. What does Saul tell Rachel is one reason why Kirk wants them to break up after Saul is diagnosed with cancer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Joe expresses that his mother was a Buddhist yet was "bribing the cycle of karma with petty cash" (80). Write an essay analyzing Joe and his mother's relationship with Buddhism in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Select 2-3 symbols from the novel and write an essay analyzing how they relate to one of the novel's major themes.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 845 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample