View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Hagar rarely visit her first son, Marvin, who lives nearby?

2. Who does Hagar deliver the box labeled "Clara Shipley" to?

3. What does Hagar feel like she is waiting for now in her dying days at the hospital?

4. Hagar's new roommate is Sandra Wong, in the semi-private room of the hospital, is an Asian girl. Where does Hagar think she descended from?

5. What calms Hagar as she is in the woods?

Short Essay Questions

1. What turns out to be Hagar's biggest character flaws?

2. In Chapter 7, Hagar's fear of the dark is admitted. Why do you think she has never told anyone she was afraid of the dark?

3. What is Hagar's view toward religion in Chapter 8?

4. In Chapter 7, Hagar sees that Arlene is making the same mistakes she did. How is this true?

5. Having never said a kind word about Bram, why do you think Hagar tells Elva her husband had been very handsome?

6. Hagar finds something in common with Elva, a recognition. How was this foreshadowed at her first visit to the nursing home?

7. What is Hagar waiting for in Chapter 10, and in what other ways has she waited in the book?

8. Compare Hagar and Doris. Has their relationship changed during this book?

9. Describe the irony, at the end of Chapter 6, of Bram being buried in the Currie plot, and having the Shipley name carved on the other side of the Currie stone.

10. Describe how Hagar feels physically and mentally in the beginning of Chapter 7.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare John Shipley to his father Bram.

Part 1) In what ways are they alike in the beginning?

Parts2) How are they more alike toward the end of the novel?

Part 3) When do you think Hagar notices their similarities?

Essay Topic 2

Hagar sites poetry throughout the novel, site the examples and their significance.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel Hagar describes events that foreshadow John's demise. What are some of these events and do you think Hagar could have acted differently to affect the outcome?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 791 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample