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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 does Suzanne treat in the ER one day?

2. What does Matt have happen inside the church at the end of the ceremony?

3. What does Matt think of when he is looking at Nicky's rocking horse?

4. Who seems to Katie like a sane and happy family?

5. What is taped to the last page of the diary?

Short Essay Questions

1. What questions does Katie ask as she is reading the diary?

2. What does Nicky wear to his baptism and how does he act during his baptism?

3. What does Suzanne learn from her cardiologist on a check up?

4. What does Katie do one night for her friends the Browns?

5. What perfect memory do Suzanne and Matt create when in their son's room in the middle of the night?

6. What is Katie learning from Suzanne's diary?

7. What does Katie remember about Matt as she is thinking about the diary?

8. Where do Matt and Susan have their honeymoon and what does Matt bring Suzanne every day during the honeymoon?

9. What does Katie share with her parents and what is their reation?

10. Where does Katie encounter Melanie and what does Melanie tell Nicky?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. Who is/are the protagonists of the story and why?

2. Who is/are the antagonists of the story and why?

3. Which 3 secondary characters have the greatest impact on the plot?

4. Are any of the characters dispensable and which ones? Why or why not?

5. Do you think this is a character-driven plot or an action-driven plot? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Often, authors will write about "what they know," and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting. Discuss the following:

1. Research and give a brief biographical sketch of James Patterson.

2. What in Patterson's background may have helped him in writing this book? What may have influenced the way he depicts various characters and scenes?

3. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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