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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 Lorelei's sister's name?

2. What item breaks on the first Easter described in the book and ends up in the garage with two others just like it?

3. When Meg thinks of Lorelei's house as a "warren," on page 150, what is she implicitly comparing her mother to?

4. What does Lorelei tell Rory she needs to do instead of helping him look for his birth certificate?

5. What does Rhys get into trouble for at school?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. What is ironic about Lorelei's characterization of Meg's "frantic reproduction" (1)?

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

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

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

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

8. 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?

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

10. What foreshadowing alerts the reader that something terrible has happened between Meg and Beth?

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

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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This section contains 1,307 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample