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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 Daphne characterize the economy she is living in?

2. Who is the State of Jefferson opposed to, in Cindy Cooper’s opinion?

3. Where does Daphne find wifi signal when she gets to Altavista?

4. What contradiction applies to Daphne’s relationship with Honey?

5. What does Daphne say she and Engin used to argue about when they first had Honey?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the state of Daphne’s finances?

2. How does Daphne characterize the conversation she has with Cindy Cooper and her boyfriend Ed van Voorhees?

3. What positions do the editorials take on the State of Jefferson, in the paper Daphne reads?

4. Why is Daphne so glad to see a message from her Uncle Rodney on her phone when she gets service again?

5. What is the crisis Honey’s injury creates in Daphne and how does she resolve it?

6. How does Daphne put the discussion of Islam and ISIS to rest?

7. How does Daphne react when Honey injures herself at the Golden Spike?

8. Where are Daphne’s thoughts taking her at the beginning of the novel?

9. What do Daphne and Engin communicate in their call from Sal’s Café?

10. What the State of Jefferson?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a character sketch of the author based on her style and content. What can we tell about her, based on the choices she makes in terms of description, characterization and plot? What values does she hold dear? What are her hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think she is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.

Essay Topic 2

What does The Golden State do for the reader? What anxiety does it address, and does it offer a meaningful catharsis or epiphany for the reader to follow or be enlightened by? Put another way: what questions of yours does The Golden State resonate with, and do you find that you have more equipment for handling those questions, now that you have read the book?

Essay Topic 3

When is The Golden State most itself? What is its characteristic passage, or moment? What makes that moment or passage the most representative of the book as a whole? Are there any places where the book seems to depart from its typical self, as if to become a different book?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,137 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample