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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 is the title of Part 3 of the novel?

2. What does Saskia's father discover that shocks him in Chapter 10?

3. What does Elke bring to the tailor in Chapter 11?

4. What does the tailor take from a local spinner in Chapter 2?

5. What will the tailor do to satisfy the young maiden's father's doubts?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the tailor leave the family in Chapter 7?

2. What happens when the miller becomes depressed in Chapter 6?

3. What happens at the end of Chapter 4?

4. Why does Saskia cut her father's hair in Chapter 5?

5. Why doesn't the tailor invite Elke inside his house in Chapter 11?

6. Why doesn't Saskia want to trade wheels with Elke in Chapter 12?

7. What does Saskia's father do while she is spinning threads in Chapter 12?

8. What does Saskia have to do when her father becomes depressed?

9. What classic story does "Spinners" borrow elements from?

10. What does the tailor spend a week looking for in Chapter 2 and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the motif of family in the novel "Spinners". Describe Saskia's family. Is family important to her? In what way is her family life complicated?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the symbolism in the novel "Spinners". What are some examples of symbolism in the novel? What does the spinning wheel symbolize? What does the tailor's deformed leg symbolize?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author of the novel, Donna Jo Napoli. What other works has she received recognition for? Is her work usually similarly-themed? Does she always write in the same genre?

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