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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. In Chapter Five: Gravity, who does Deborah say helped her?

2. In Chapter Three: Nets, what does Deborah say the breaking of the family home is like?

3. In Chapter Four: Living in Yellow, what does Deborah say she called the corridors?

4. In Chapter Two: The Tempest, what does Deborah say she saw?

5. In Chapter Five: Gravity, who does Deborah say were the characters in the play she remembered?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter Five: Gravity, what piece of old writing does Deborah say she compared herself to?

2. In Chapter Five: Gravity, who does Deborah say came to her rescue? How did this person rescue her?

3. In Chapter Three: Nets, what does Deborah say she and her ex-husband did to the family home? What did this action send her back to?

4. In Chapter Four: Living in Yellow, what does Deborah write about her supporting her family in this time? What does she say about her freedom?

5. In Chapter Three: Nets, what does Deborah say holds together the family home? What does Deborah say is the disintegration of this story?

6. In Chapter One: The Big Silver, who does Deborah say was named "Big Silver"? Why was he called this?

7. In Chapter Six: The Body Electric, what does Deborah say she bought? Why did she buy this?

8. In Chapter One: The Big Silver, what does Deborah say the young woman talked about? What did the man say in response?

9. In Chapter Six: The Body Electric, who does Deborah say she met later at the party? What did this person update her about their life?

10. In Chapter Four: Living in Yellow, what does Deborah say she repaired? How did this repair become a metaphor?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the names and themes of each of the chapters in the autobiography. Each one connects to a theme carried out in the chapter, as well as an overall cadence of the autobiography. How are the chapters grouped together or connected by their titles and themes, either in groups, or across numbers? How are they all connected together for a layout of narrative? Use the chapter names for an exploration of what the narrative arc of the autobiography is, and what parts are specifically connected to one another.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the autobiography, Deborah Levy discusses the breaking of the patriarchy's story by women and the consequences they may subsequently face. Turn to page 133. Levy writes:

"There are plenty of tears, but it is better to walk through the bluish and blackish darkness than reach for those worthless jewels" (133).

What is the bluish and blackish darkness that Levy writes about here? Use Levy and two other women mentioned in the autobiography to discuss what this darkness is, and how, finding their way, these women walk through it to the other side.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the autobiography, Levvy uses many different metaphors to discuss writing: gardener, looker, gazer. What is the portrait she crafts about who a writer is and what they do? How is the role of the writer related to the role of the actor? How is the role of the writer related to the roles of women and men, mothers and daughters, mothers and fathers, as discussed throughout the book?

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