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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. Whom does Lizabeth recognize at the barbecue?

2. What does Matt say he likes about being "married"?

3. What does Matt say that hurts Lizabeth's feelings while he is eating potato salad?

4. What did Matt's father do for a living?

5. What is the one thing Lizabeth thinks is keeping her life from being perfect after she marries Matt?

Short Essay Questions

1. After arguing the night before, Lizabeth finds herself alone in the morning and much of the rest of the day. What does Matt say that expresses the confusion he is feeling about their relationship when they finally do meet up?

2. How does Richard Hastings find out about Lizabeth, and why does he choose to flash her?

3. Compare/contrast Matt and Paul and their parenting styles.

4. As Lizabeth spends most of the barbecue trying to identify the flasher, one man in particular catches her eye. What does she do to try to find out if he is the flasher, and what is the result?

5. The reader learns more about Matt's childhood in Chapter 9 than throughout the rest of the book. Was his childhood happy? What happened to his mother? Describe his childhood relationship with his father.

6. Matt buys a new bed for Lizabeth, inciting another angry outburst from her. What does the new bed represent to Lizabeth?

7. Choose one of the several family relationships described in the novel and outline its importance to the story.

8. What happens while Matt is cooking breakfast in Chapter 8?

9. Lizabeth seems to have many preconceived notions about what a perfect father should be. In her mind, Matt falls short in several of these categories. What does she say in Chapter 7 that expresses these notions and where Matt falls short?

10. What does Lizabeth do to keep busy when she finds herself bored in her self-imposed prison, and what does Matt do when she does?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Which character serves as the antagonist for this novel? What about that person makes him/her the antagonist? Is there more than one antagonist? If so, who? Which antagonist is more important to the story line and why? Or are they equally important? If so, why?

Essay Topic 2

Since she was 5, Lizabeth's dream was to be a fairy. She held onto that dream through adulthood, even though she was well aware that fairies don't exist. What does a fairy symbolize to Lizabeth as a child? What does it symbolize as an adult? What does the fact that she has held onto this dream tell you about Lizabeth and her personality?

Essay Topic 3

Matt brings Lizabeth to his house for the first time. She is shocked and a bit overwhelmed by what she sees. How does the condition of Matt's house parallel the condition of his life? What do the objects in the house represent? What do the lack of objects one expects to see in a home represent?

(see the answer keys)

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