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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. Where did the author go to wait with a friend who got news about a family accident?

2. What Shakespeare reading assignment was objected to by the author's feminist students?

3. In what year did the author accept an invitation to teach at Harvard Divinity School?

4. What hymn did the old nurse teach the author and his young brother?

5. What rubber doll did Dudley Knott carry with him everywhere?

Short Essay Questions

1. When do Dudley Knott and the author become friends?

2. Besides complaints about him praying in his first class at Harvard, what other surprises did the author's students give him?

3. How did the author feel about his kids once they were older and how did this affect his life once they left home as adults?

4. What does the author tell us about his first two autobiographies?

5. How did the author's kids connect him with the outside world when they were small?

6. Who goes to Bermuda with the author when he is a child and how does he describe their arrival in Bermuda?

7. What does the author describe about the Tower of London?

8. Why does the author describe Bermuda as enchanting?

9. How does the author connect his feelings to what he describes about the Tower in London?

10. How do our other selves develop as explained in Part Two of "Telling Secrets?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author wrote "Brendan" in 1987. How does the author describe Brendan the Navigator? Why does the author say he found another saint in reference to Brendan the Navigator? How does the author use this character and another to convey his belief that we are all crippled? Through Brendan what does the author offer as a solution to help those that are crippled?

Essay Topic 2

In the Introduction, the author writes that 1) telling secrets makes it easier to see where we have been and where we are going; 2) it makes it easier for others to share their secrets; and 3) that exchanges like this is what being a family, and being human is all about. Using details from Part One, Part Two and Part Three of the book, provide details from the authors life experiences that support each of the three statements (1,2 3) above?

Essay Topic 3

The author writes his own book introduction. What does the introduction reveal about the author? What purpose for the book is explained, and why is he writing another autobiography when he has already penned two such publications? What picture does the author create for the reader about expectations for this book, as well as his state of mind about the book's content?

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