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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 does Rose Mary feel about her current living situation?

2. What happens when the Walls children begin school in Phoenix?

3. What happens when Jeannette is released from the hospital?

4. Why does Brian go to investigate the Green Lantern?

5. What basic needs do Jeannette's family not always provide?

Short Essay Questions

1. What incident precipitates the family's leaving Battle Mountain for Phoenix?

2. "The Glass Castle" is the author's story of the unusual, and some would say tragic, circumstances of her childhood. What is the author's tone as she tells her story? How does this reflect who she is as a person?

3. What gift does Jeannette ask her father for on her tenth birthday and how does he react?

4. What event happened the day that Rose Mary and Rex met, that Rex says caused him to fall in love with her?

5. What are some of the unorthodox ways that the Walls parents get money and items for the house?

6. The author tells her story in a very straightforward manner. What does her style of writing say about her personality?

7. What does the author feel towards her parents in light of the circumstances of her childhood?

8. Why does Jeannette ask the cab driver to go back to the apartment after she sees her mother from afar in Part 1?

9. What does the glass castle represent, not only to Rex, but to the rest of the family as well?

10. What is Rex's reaction to Rose Mary's plan to travel to West Virginia and what happens when the family gets ready to go?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Life is hard for the Walls family wherever they go. However, in different places it is hard in different ways. Compare their lives in Phoenix, Battle Mountain, and Welch, answering each of the following questions about each location:

1) What are the family's basic living conditions like?

2) What is Rose Mary's emotional condition like and how does it affect the rest of the family?

3) Discuss Rex's emotional condition as well.

Essay Topic 2

Although the Walls parents frequently put their children in dangerous situations, it is obvious that they do not believe that their philosophy of parenting is flawed. Discuss Rex and Rose Mary's philosophy of parenting.

1) How do they believe children should be treated? What do they think of as their responsibility as parents?

2) What do they consider the children's responsibilities within the family?

3) Give examples in which Rex or Rose Mary fail to act in a manner that would be considered responsible by most people. How do they justify their actions within the context of their philosophy of life?

Essay Topic 3

One of the author's earliest memories is of being badly burned while she is cooking by herself as a small child. She spends several weeks in the hospital, during which time she is not unhappy. In fact, she responds to the incident in a calm manner that belies her age.

1) What are Jeannette's memories of the incident? How does she react to the staff at the hospital?

2) How does Jeannette respond to the staff when they tell her that she is going to be all right?

3) What is her father's response to the incident? Do you find it surprising, or is it typical of him?

4) What do both Jeannette's and her parents' way of dealing with this incident say about each of their personalities and ways of approaching life?

(see the answer keys)

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