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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. At what time does Malachi call on Moshe?

2. Which of the following institutions does Pottstown boast?

3. From where had marble been ordered for the local Jewish house of worship?

4. Which of the following groups does Moshe try to appease via theatre bookings?

5. For which of the following did Big Soap work?

Short Essay Questions

1. To what does Chona ascribe her and Moshe’s commercial success?

2. Why does Paper not work as a maid?

3. What rumor surrounds Norman Skrupskelis?

4. For what does Moshe take Malachi when the latter first arrives at the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store?

5. What does Nate use as a euphemism for his sister-in-law’s death?

6. Why does Chona speak against her teacher on Bernice’s behalf?

7. Why does Anna Morse leave the theatre business?

8. What event precipitates Bernice leaving school?

9. How does Nate dispose of Malachi’s challah?

10. How do the people of Chicken Hill regard the devastation of Hurricane Agnes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much is made in the novel of the difference between the rural and the urban. Does the novel privilege one over the other? If so, how and to what effect? If not, how not and to what effect?

Essay Topic 2

To what genre other than historical fiction might The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store be considered to belong? What in the text supports that identification? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

What attitude towards the supernatural does the novel betray? How does it convey that attitude?

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