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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. How many hands are in Goolrick's hallucination about suicide?

2. What does Dodo do that the other children cannot do?

3. What did Goolrick's godfather's wife bring to the family following Father's death?

4. What ruined mother's blue and green striped dress?

5. Where did Goolrick meet the male lover he discusses in "Summer of our Suicides"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the game Goolrick and his brother used to play as children, and the consequences.

3. Describe how brother comes out of the coma.

4. Describe the area where Mother and Father are buried.

5. Explain the young man who joins the ward while Goolrick is there.

6. Explain how Mother died and Goolrick's actions at the time of her death.

7. Describe the environment Goolrick experienced as a child.

8. Explain the situation that led to Goolrick's cutting behaviors.

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

10. Describe Goolrick's state of mind at this point in the novel.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain, in detail, why the burned dress of Goolrick's mother made such an impact on him in "Burn." What did the dresses symbolize to Goolrick, and therefore, what did the damaged dress symbolize? Did Goolrick ever determine what was lost in his family? If so, what was it? If not, what do you think was missing in Goolrick's family?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the environment in which Goolrick was raised to the current social environment. What are similarities? What are differences? How do you think these might have contributed to his parent's alcoholism? How did the environment contribute to the molestation of Goolrick by his father? Do you think Goolrick's life would have been different in today's society? How?

Essay Topic 3

In "A Persistence of Song," Goolrick notes that he writes the novel with the hope that he can save one child from molestation. Do you think Goolrick's novel has the power to impact someone enough not to rape a child? Why or why not? Do you think the pain Goolrick's suffers in the novel is enough to convince a pedophile that their actions are not only inappropriate, but that they can ruin a life? Why? Do you think an alcoholic parent might take a moment to think about their actions with their children after reading this book?

(see the answer keys)

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