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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. What issue do Rory and Kayleigh seem to be fighting about when they visit for Easter?

2. What is Lorelei looking for when she discovers that some of her things are missing?

3. Who is the first person that Beth suspects knows about her affair with Bill?

4. In her email to Jim, whom does Lorelei say might invite her for Christmas?

5. When Beth is aggressively trying to seduce Jason, what is she really thinking about?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the robbery at Bird House end Colin's dream of going to Greece?

2. How does Colin's reaction to the art wall show that even early in the children's lives he is struggling with Lorelei's collecting?

3. When Molly asks Meg whether she would have liked Rhys,what is Meg's response?

4. When Meg and Molly go in to start clearing out Lorelei's house, why is it such a relief to them when they reach the landing of the stairs?

5. When she is in Greece, what causes Meg to be momentarily suspicious about Beth and Bill, and what does she decide is probably going on?

6. How does Rory's new friend inspire him to make a change in his life?

7. During their vacation to Greece, what details demonstrate that Bill is not as involved with the family as Meg is?

8. Why is it so meaningful to Meg when Molly takes her hand before they first enter Bird House together after Lorelei's death?

9. How does Colin end up as Lorelei's next-door neighbor?

10. What does Rory think is Lorelei's way of dealing with Rhys's death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Jewell create a more complex and nuanced narrative by shifting the narrative perspective? Write an essay in which you describe the dominant narrative perspective and how Jewell introduces other perspectives through Lorelei's emails and passages told from new perspectives. Make and defend a claim about the purpose of this perspective shifting. Support your ideas with evidence drawn from throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Choose one celebration of Easter (other than Easter of 1981) described in the book--make sure that you look through the entire text so that you do not miss any part of that particular Easter, as descriptions of some Easters are conveyed in more than one location. Once you know that you have located all of the passages that describe the Easter you have chosen, write an essay that explores its significance. What has changed from previous years, and what will change later? What remains the same? What do the family dynamics convey? What does the presence or absence of people from outside the family convey? How does this day compare and contrast with the situations of various characters in the narrative present? Support your discussion of the significance of this particular Easter with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

Essay Topic 3

After Beth witnesses the scene between her mother and her father and Vicky in Chapter 7, she goes upstairs to her own room. What is it that so disturbs her about the appearance of her room? What does it imply about her? How does juxtaposing her dawning realizations about her own room and herself with the scene between her parents and Vicky create a sense of urgency and help the reader understand Beth's decision to try again with Jason? Write an essay in which you analyze how the details in and structure of this section of Chapter 7 allows the reader to more fully understand Beth's panic and her choice to attempt a relationship with Jason.

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