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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. When Lorelei discovers things missing from her "office," what does she believe has happened?

2. What is Rory most afraid of when he brings Kayleigh home to meet his mother?

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

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

5. What is the main thing that makes Beth so eager to get home to Bird House when she stays at Meg's place to help out during Alfie's birth?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What lie does Vicky tell Meg about Lorelei's hoarding during Easter of 1999, and why does she tell this lie?

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

4. 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?

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

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

7. Based on Lorelei's emails, what seems to be true about her own childhood and its impact on the way she parents her own children?

8. 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?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How would retelling Jewell's story as a linear narrative affect its impact on the reader? Write an essay in which you consider the linear timeline of the events of The House We Grew Up In and analyze how breaking that linear progression up with flashbacks affects the reader's experience. Describe the structure that Jewell chooses and show why it is effective in keeping the reader engaged and how it suggests meaning. Support your claims with analysis of how a linear account would destroy the effect of specific sections of the book as it is actually written.

Essay Topic 2

After finishing the book, the reader should be able to infer where Lorelei was headed in her car on the last day of her life. What motivated her to finally leave Bird House and try to get to Jim's on this particular day? If Jim had been available to answer her emails, do you think she would have gotten in her car to try to get to Gateshead? If Jim had really been trying to end the relationship, what would have happened had Lorelei actually made it to Gateshead? What do you think prevented Lorelei from thinking in a more levelheaded way? Most importantly, why did Jewell choose to have Lorelei die during this first attempt to flee Bird House? Write an essay that takes and defends a position on the significance of Lorelei's death during her attempt to leave Bird House. Consider what this timing says about Lorelei's relationship to the house and the past, and what it says about her relationships with other people--especially romantic partners. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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