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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. Which nurse is in love with the doctor at the orphanage?

2. Homer performs the autopsy and tells the doctor the cadaver died of what in Chapter 5?

3. The autopsy reveals that the prostitute to whom Dr. Larch lost his virginity to died of what in Chapter 2?

4. Who is looking out the window when the car drives by leaving with Homer in the end of Chapter 5?

5. Homer's first foster family returns him to the orphanage because of what reason?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Dr. Larch's reaction to Homer's leaving the orphanage in Chapter 5? What is foreshadowed?

2. Why does Dr. Larch keep the women having abortions separate from the women giving birth in Chapter 3?

3. How does the author describe Wilbur Larch's early life in Chapter 2? What led to Wilbur's sexually transmitted disease?

4. Why does the prostitute's daughter come to Dr. Larch in Chapter 2?

5. What is symbolic about Dr. Larch's choices for the books read to the orphans in Chapter 3?

6. Why does Dr. Larch ask Homer to perform an autopsy in Chapter 5? What does Homer find?

7. How is Homer's first meeting with Candy and Wally described in Chapter 5?

8. Where does Dr. Larch decide to go when leaving Boston in Chapter 2? Who invites him to a party and why, in this chapter?

9. How is Homer Wells described in Chapter 1? How is Homer viewed by Dr. Larch and the nurses?

10. What does the exposition reveal about Dr. Larch's past in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and analyze the character of Homer Wells in the narrative. How old is Homer when he is introduced in Chapter 1? When was Homer brought to the orphanage? How many times is Homer adopted and why do his adoptive parents bring him back to the orphanage?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the book Gray's Anatomy and Dr. Larch's medical training for Homer. Why does Dr. Larch give this book to Homer? Why does Dr. Larch choose to train Homer in his practice? Does Homer feel that Dr. Larch is wrong to perform abortions? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Define and discuss literary allusion and the novels "David Copperfield" and "Jane Eyre". What is symbolic in Dr. Larch choosing these novels to read to the children? What do these novels have in common? How do the orphans in the novel respond to these books?

(see the answer keys)

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