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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. Who is Billy Deel?

2. What is the incident in the first section of Part 2 that serves as a metaphor for the neglect that the children suffer?

3. Why does Rex say that the family must leave Las Vegas?

4. What genre of book is "The Glass Castle"?

5. What does Jeannette feel when she first sees Rose Mary at the beginning of the book?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe her father in Part 2 of the book?

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

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

4. Why does Rex take the children over the safety fence to touch a cheetah at the zoo?

5. 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?

6. How does Rex teach Jeannette to swim, and how is it representative of his philosophy of parenting in general?

7. "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?

8. What is life like for the Walls children when they first move to Phoenix?

9. What are some examples of the neglect that the children suffer during their time in both Battle Mountain and in Phoenix?

10. What are Rex's feelings about how the family finances should be handled? How does he manage money?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Walls children have a hard time adjusting to life as adults. How does each of them carry the scars of their neglectful childhood?

1) Compare Brian, Maureen, Jeannette, and Lori as adults. How are their lives alike, and how do they differ?

2) What difficulties has each of them faced as adults, and how successful have they been in overcoming or learning from these difficulties?

3) What good traits, or qualities has each of these children developed as a result of their "unique" childhood?

Essay Topic 2

Rose Mary tells Jeannette, as an adult, that her values are "all confused." What does Rose Mary mean?

1) How does Rose Mary view Jeannette's life and career?

2) What are Rose Mary's values like and how do Jeannette's differ?

3) What values or ideas do you think that they agree on? What is important to both of them?

Essay Topic 3

The title of the memoir is significant in its symbolism as something unfinished, or unrealized within the author's family. Discuss the title and its significance, considering the following:

1) How does the glass castle represent the unrealized dreams of the family, or the things that the family may never have?

2) What does the glass castle mean to Rex? How does it represent Rex's unrealized potential?

2) Why do you feel that the author chose this title? How does it relate to the memoir as a whole, and to her feelings about her childhood?

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