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. Where can Katie imagine Suzanne?

2. What message does Katie leave on Matt's answering machine?

3. When had Katie found a package on her doorstep?

4. What does Katie find uncomfortable about her life?

5. How does Katie compare herself to a character in the show she watches?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Suzanne describe Melanie Bone?

2. Describe what happens on July 18.

3. How does Katie describe Matt and what do they do on the day they meet?

4. What does Suzanne say about Matt's house?

5. Why is Suzanne writing to her son?

6. How does Suzanne end up in the hospital?

7. Where do Matt and Katie go the next day after working until noon?

8. What is the result of Suzanne's illness and what analogy does she use to explain what she decides?

9. What does Katie realize as she slams the diary shut and what does she need?

10. What does Katie do when she takes a break from reading Suzanne's diary?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Suzanne is looking for magic. She makes a deal with Nicky on the way home from Boston that for every smile he gives her she will live another year. For a doctor, she falls into magical thinking quickly. After the heart attack that she had at the beginning of the book, one would think that she would live in reality. Perhaps even with scientific knowledge that she could share with a patient, she can't really believe it for herself.

Women understand the desire for a child. Some women can't accept themselves as women unless they have children. While there is a part of every woman who understands Suzanne's desire for another child, it is accepted as a heart string puller because Patterson has been keeping emotion high. If one stops and looks at this situation, this is a very stupid move for a doctor who understands the score.

1. Why do you think even a well educated person might resort to magical thinking, such as what Suzanne is doing on the way home from Boston? Use examples from "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" and your own life to support your answer.

2. Do you think all women can understand the desire for a child? Why or why not? Do you think men would not be able to understand that desire? Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

3. Discuss the dichotomy of a doctor like Suzanne not taking precautions to avoid pregnancy knowing her medical history. Use examples from "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in this story. Then 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 "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas". Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to possess courage? Why?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of death in "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas". Consider the death of Mike as an random act of nature and the death of Luis as the result of conscious violence. Consider also in your answer the death of innocence in Rick from the beginning of the book to the end.

Essay Topic 3

Patterson is once again pulling all the emotional strings. Suzanne's heart attack gives her an enemy waiting to attack her life throughout the book. Heart disease can be fought but no one has a say when that heart will quit beating. Here she is a broken hearted heroine. With heart disease in her family, she has a target on that heart at all times. Next we have betrayal by the man she thought she loved. Betrayal of her body and then betrayal by her man.

1. Discuss reasons why Suzanne's heart attack would be considered an antagonist. Use examples from "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" and your own life to support your answer.

2. Discuss the metaphoric connotations that Suzanne's "heart is broken" might have following her heart attack. Use examples from "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" and your own life to support your answer.

3. Discuss the idea that one never knows when death will come and how that might be important in "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas". Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,387 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample