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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. Who is tall, tan and blond?

2. Where do Marina and Mr. Fox go?

3. What does Marina leave with the lobby clerk?

4. Where does Marina go to visit her father when she is a child?

5. What does Marina realize about the Bovenders after Barbara calls her the night after their outing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Fox concerned about and how is his concern proven to be valid?

2. What does the letter from Dr. Swenson say about Anders Eckman?

3. Describe Marina's parents.

4. What does Marina feel about the river?

5. What does Milton say to Marina about the Bovenders?

6. Who is Mr. Fox and how does he react to the news about Anders Eckman?

7. What do Marina and the Bovenders discuss concerning Anders Eckman?

8. Who are the Bovenders and where does Marina encounter them?

9. What does Marina think of Swenson's apartment and why does the doctor maintain it?

10. Who else shops at the store where Milton takes Marina and what does Marina wonder about the other foreigners?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Marina made a bad mistake during residency, not listening to her supervising physician and rushing a C section. Her actions in the hospital on the night of the botched C section were primarily caused not by her lack of skill, as she was well trained, but instead simply by a carelessness brought about because of her concerns that she had fallen in the eyes of her mentor. Marina clearly thought of Swenson as a mentor, but also elevated her to almost hero status. When she failed her, she was distracted, and as a result, made a profound mistake. Although forgiven by the mother and father of the blinded child, and also by the board, who allowed her to keep her residency, Marina was never able to forgive herself. She quit the program to avoid having to face Swenson and the others who knew of her mistake. She divorced her husband, in part, to distance herself from him and the friends who knew of the accident.

1. Do you think Marina had good reason to quit her residency program? Why or why not? Use examples from the story and your own life to support your answer.

2. Discuss the reasons you see for Marina divorcing her husband and cutting off relationships with friends she knew when she botched the C section. Use examples from the story and your own life to support your answer.

3. Do you think it is more difficult to learn from or perform for a teacher or mentor you idolize than one about whom you feel no such big feelings? Why or why not? Use examples from the story and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Oftentimes, a book has more of a character-driven plot rather than action driven, and oftentimes the other way. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven? Action driven?

2. How do you think a plot differs if it is character driven versus action driven?

3. Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why?

4. Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character development share equal time? Why or why not.

5. What type of plot do you think State of Wonder is? Explain your response.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in State of Wonder. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of courage in State of Wonder. Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to possess courage? Why?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of ethics and morals in State of Wonder. How does the morals of a character show up? Who seems to have shaky morals? Who seems to have good ethics? How did the ethics and morals of the characters affect the story?

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