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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 Meg and Molly are in their hotel room together, what does Molly ask her mother to buy her?

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

3. When Meg sees the "Beth's Room" sign, what is she suddenly reminded of? (60)

4. What bribe did Meg use to get Molly to come to Bird House with her?

5. Who calls Meg while she is in the hotel room with Molly?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is foreshadowed by Lorelei and Vicky's conversation after Vicky confesses to having given some of Lorelei's things to charity?

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

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. Describe Meg's complicated mix of feelings about Rhys.

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

7. What is the one thing about Lorelei that Vicky cannot understand, and how does she try to reconcile herself to it?

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

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

What is the significance of the thematic motif of birds in The House We Grew Up In? How does Jewell use the family name, Lorelei's devotion to the Easter egg hunt and collecting the egg foils, and other references to birds to convey ideas about home and family? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about the symbolic significance of birds and things related to birds in this text. Support your claims with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Choose one idea associated with Easter Sunday--religious or secular--and show how this idea is developed through the text's focus on the Bird family's celebrations of Easter. (Note that you are tracing an idea, like "rebirth," "salvation," or "springtime," not a tradition, object, etc., like "Easter egg hunts.") Trace the development of this idea throughout the text and show how this symbolic association illuminates important aspects of the Bird family's story. Support your claims with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

(see the answer keys)

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