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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 is Meg's husband's name?

2. What surprise does Vicky arrange for Lorelei during Easter of 1999?

3. How is Vicky's attitude toward Meg's children similar to Lorelei's?

4. What is the name of Meg's third child?

5. What do the last two pages of Chapter 5 imply is the reason Beth cannot give up her relationship with Bill?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does the craft box demonstrate how Lorelei's collecting evolves into hoarding?

3. Even though she is disgusted by her own behavior, why does Beth think she cannot give up her affair with Bill?

4. Describe Bill and Beth's relationship as it stands in April of 1999.

5. How does the very first passage describing a Bird family Easter egg hunt characterize Meg?

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

7. What surprises Beth about Molly's existence, and what does it make her realize about herself?

8. What similarities does Meg see between Alfie and Rhys, and when was she most worried about these similarities?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

You have spent some time considering how the loss of Rhys impacted Rory later in life. Now, choose a different family member and write an essay that makes and defends a claim about how Rhys's death impacted this character. Consider their relationship with Rhys, their individual personality and capabilities, and in what way their later life might have been different had Rhys lived a natural lifespan. Support your ideas with evidence drawn from throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 2

What is Meg's role in the Bird family? Why is she the one who gets off to the most successful start in life, and why is she generally able to hold her life together despite the obstacles in her way? Does Meg know herself and what she needs better than the other Birds? How does this impact her ability to understand and relate to other people? Does Meg know herself well enough to follow through on her beliefs, or do her actions sometimes contradict her beliefs? Would you say that she is better or worse than other characters, in this regard? Write an essay that explores how the failings that seem to plague the Bird family either do or do not plague Meg, and that analyzes why Meg seems bound for a more successful life from the start. Support your ideas with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

Essay Topic 3

The title of this novel focuses the reader's attention on Bird House itself. Why? How does the title relate to the book's theme? Write an essay that analyzes the book's title and Bird House's central relationship to the book's concerns with family, generational dysfunction, renewal, and personal growth. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

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