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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. Why is Goolrick a star in the hospital?

2. What does the green and blue dress symbolize to Goolrick?

3. What happens when Goolrick's left arm is too damaged to cut?

4. What does Goolrick note about the young man in the glass room?

5. What caused Goolrick to end his relationship with his female lover?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe mother's appearance.

2. Describe how Goolrick's friend attempted suicide.

3. Describe Goolrick's relationship with his female lover.

4. Explain how the patients beat the addicts in volleyball.

5. Describe Goolrick's parents as he describes them by the end of the chapter.

6. Explain what Goolrick means when he talks about the mystery of how most people carry on.

7. Explain Goolrick's initial reaction to his friend's attempt, and his later reactions.

8. Explain the situation when Teddy calls.

9. Describe details about the mental hospital.

10. Describe how mother came to own a mink coat.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, Goolrick admits to constantly seeking satisfaction, love, affection, and acceptance, through drugs, alcohol, sex, and material possessions. Discuss these issues in detail. Why did Goolrick always feel he was not complete? Why did he use alcohol and drugs? What was he trying to hide? Why did he stop allowing others to love him, and stop loving others, as well? Do you think all his issues are related to his childhood trauma, or are these issues related to a lifetime of abuse? Do you think that lifetime of abuse would have occurred if the molestation had not happened? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Describe, in detail, the life Goolrick had growing up. What was the environment like? What was society like? What were his parents, and how did they behave? What priorities did his family have? Do you think any of these things contributed to Goolrick's problems later in his life? How? Do you think his parents were solely responsible for his issues? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Foreshadowing is used heavily in the novel, as Goolrick flips between historical memory and current fact to weave together his painful memoir. Choose three examples of foreshadowing, and discuss them in depth in terms of how they were used to indicate what was to come later in the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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