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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. What is the story that circulates about Eleanor when she starts her first job?

2. How much rent will Janey have to pay as a boarder?

3. After graduating high school, where did Charley move?

4. Who is the man at the Hotel Continental that offers Janey a new job?

5. After breaking off her engagement, what does Eveline propose to Eleanor?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Charley do for work in Minneapolis when he moves there?

2. What does Ward want to achieve on his own without Annabelle's support?

3. What does Mac do when the Zapata arrives in Mexico City?

4. When Janey first arrives in New York, what is her initial impression?

5. How does Eleanor's employment situation change when Eveline returns from Europe?

6. What does Ward want in his line of work, and how does he achieve it?

7. What effect does the war have on Ward's relationship with Gertrude and his work?

8. What is Eleanor's relationship with her father?

9. When Eveline and Eleanor's business fails, what job opportunity do they take?

10. Why does Eleanor befriend Miss Eliza Perkins?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The 42nd Parallel is written from the third-person point of view where the narrator is an outsider who can report only what he or she sees and hears. This narrator can tell us what is happening, but he cannot tell us the thoughts of the characters. This method allows the author to establish the setting and to supply background information to the reader about people, places, and events. Is this method effective? Why or why not? Would a first-person narrative be more or less appealing? Describe.

Essay Topic 2

When Mac travels to Mexico, he does not go for physical reasons. Instead, he goes to stimulate his mind and to free his spirit. What is the significance of taking a spiritual journey versus just a physical one? How does this affect Mac in particular?

Part 1) What is the difference in the journeys of Mac versus that of Janey?

Part 2) Describe Mac's final experience and how it varies greatly from his first trip. What new friends has he made? What fears has he conquered? What relationships has he formed, and what relationships has he severed? Why?

Part 3) Of the five main characters, who gains the most knowledge and understanding from traveling? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the role of women in the early part of the twentieth century when the women in the 42nd Parallel are living their lives. What precedents do they feel compelled to follow? What restrictions do they have? What freedoms do they have, if any, that 21st century women do not have?

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