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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 tailor doing when Elke tells him that Saskia is pregnant?

2. How much time passes in Chapter 27?

3. What is the title of Part 4 of the novel?

4. What does the person who overhears Saskia's conversation in Chapter 31 tell Saskia?

5. How does the tailor react to the news of Saskia's pregnancy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Saskia use vinegar to wash herself in Chapter 23?

2. How does the king prove to Saskia that he will never ask her to spin straw again?

3. Why does Saskia try to make the king love her in Chapter 23?

4. What does the tailor do for Saskia in Chapter 18?

5. Why does Saskia run away from Dagmar's home in Chapter 22?

6. What happens when Saskia needs the tailors help in Chapter 19?

7. What does Saskia do to make herself less lonely in Chapter 23?

8. What happens on the first night in Chapter 30?

9. Why does the king ask Saskia to marry him in Chapter 21? How does she reply to his proposal?

10. What does the tailor anticipate in Chapter 32?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the different archetypes present in the novel. Are these archetypes commonly found in fairy tales?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss conflict in the novel "Spinners". Who is in conflict with whom and why? How do these conflicts alter or influence the plot and the characters?

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