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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. When Marco and Lucy take showers in Chapter 8, how long has it been since they showered?

2. In Chapter 8, how much money does Samia give Lucy when she picks up Stella?

3. What does Phil buy at the Kensington Market?

4. How old was the narrator when unidentified people arrived in the Prologue?

5. How long has Dido lived in the cottage on her parent's old estate?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Lucy leave Blue House?

2. What do Libby, Dido, and Miller find in an attic bedroom when they search the house in Chapter 21?

3. What does Henry's mother tell him about finances?

4. What happens after it is learned that Birdie and David are having an affair?

5. Why does Lucy avert her gaze from the foot of the stone staircase in Michael's house?

6. What does Libby receive in the mail in Chapter 1?

7. What story does Lucy tell Michael to explain why she wants passports?

8. Why does Miller think it is not a homeless person staying at Cheyne Walk?

9. How does Henry describe Justin's arrival?

10. Why does Lucy stab Michael?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In media res is the technique of beginning a story with a pivotal point or a situation that is the end to a series of events. Where does Jewell begin the story? How does she plunge into the story without an explanation? How does beginning the story in the middle of the action affect the plot and affect readers?

Essay Topic 2

Cliffhangers are a literary device that leaves readers wondering what will happen next. How does Jewell use cliffhangers in The Family Upstairs? How do cliffhangers create suspense?

Essay Topic 3

The Blue House is a once-elegant townhouse where Lucy sometimes rents a room. What role does the Blue House and Giuseppe, its manager, play in her life?

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