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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 Ten: X is Where I Am, what does Deborah say she becomes in grief?

2. In Chapter Seven: The Black and Blueish Darkness, what does Deborah say her mother taught her?

3. In Chapter Eight: The Republic, what does Deborah say a writer does?

4. In Chapter Nine: Night Wandering, who does Deborah say her mother married?

5. In Chapter Ten: X is Where I Am, what does Deborah say Clara said her mother's life was for?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter Ten: X is Where I Am, what does Deborah say she told Clara about dating again? How does she say Clara responded?

2. In Chapter Nine: Night Wandering, what possession from her mother does Deborah say she kept? What touched her most about this?

3. In Chapter Ten: X is Where I Am, who does Deborah say took to driving her around the city and why? Who also rode with them?

4. In Chapter Nine: Night Wandering, where does Deborah say her mother grew up? What did her mother teach her in old age?

5. In Chapter Ten: X is Where I Am, how does Deborah say she felt after her mother's death? What did she ride instead of an e-bike?

6. In Chapter Eleven: Footsteps in the House, who does Deborah say appeared in her house? Why does Debrah say she was wary seeing her?

7. In Chapter Nine: Night Wandering, what does Deborah say happened when she read her book out loud at a festival in Berlin?

8. In Chapter Seven: The Black and Bluish Darkness, what meeting does Deborah say she went to? How did she feel at the meeting?

9. In Chapter Ten: X is Where I Am, what does Deborah say Clara thought of Deborah's life? What does Deborah say she thought of this?

10. In Chapter Eight: The Republic, how does Deborah say she compared herself to Simone de Beauvoir? How are their lives similar and different?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cost of Living ends:

"The writing you are reading now is made from the cost of living and it is made from digital ink" (134).

What is "the cost of living"? What is it for Deborah throughout the book? Do different people from the book have different definitions of what the cost is? Use several examples to craft your argument of what the cost really is.

Essay Topic 2

At the end of Chapter Three, Levy says, "Most children who grow up in that story will struggle, along with everyone else to compose another one" (13).

Consider how Levy composes herself in her life. What does she struggle with in her composition in the autobiography? How is the act of composition not a solitary act, both in the quote and her autobiography but a composition together? Who then helps Levy compose herself, as her patriarchal story falls apart, and what composition does each of these characters add? Consider why she is writing this autobiography and how this story is not only for others, but also for herself.

Essay Topic 3

The beginning of the autobiography quotes, "You're always more unreal to yourself than other people are." Marguerite Duras, Practicalities 1990.

This quote is returned to by the narrator several times. Find three examples and discuss how they connect with the author's idea of herself at different times in her life. How does her writing self relate to the idea of being real or unreal?

(see the answer keys)

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