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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 does Marielle find distressing about Alec's dead body?

2. What does Ouija mean?

3. What perspective is "Talking to Myself and Feeling Old" told in?

4. Who found Alec's dead body first?

5. In "Talking to Myself and Feeling Old," where does Marielle intern?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Craig respond after the Ouija Board? What does he want to find out?

2. What does Jordan imagine himself as in the beginning of the novel and why?

3. How does Marielle meet her husband?

4. Why does Marielle propose the pact - what wrong is she trying to remedy?

5. While Jordan and Jordy get snacks for Marielle's funeral, Joran reveals that Jordy struggles with what?

6. What does Naomi instruct Marielle to do on the beach in "Talking to Myself and Feeling Old" and why?

7. When Jordy sneaks into Jordan's room at Big Sur, what do they discuss and how does their discussion end?

8. Why is the restaurant named Nepenthe?

9. Why does Jordan want to return to Columbia; what does he think about the political state in Columbia versus America?

10. How does Marielle look and dress in "Yesterday Once More"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Select either the section where the friends eat at Nepenthe, or the section where the friends are on mushrooms. Write an essay discussing how Rowley uses imagery to explain what cannot be said in words. When the friends are unable to find the words to talk about something serious, does Imagery take the place of conversation?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay arguing that Marielle's lack of identity is due to a societal undervaluing of motherhood. Make sure to include points of comparison and quote jobs/activities that are praised in the novel, unlike Marielle's decision to be a mother. What evidence did you find to arrive at this conclusion?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay arguing for the necessity of a queer reading of this novel. Make sure to discuss elements that you believe can only be understood through the lens of queer theory. What elements of the novel would be missed using straightforward analysis?

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