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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. On the day that Rhys committed suicide, who took Beth downstairs, away from the scene?

2. What excuse do Beth and Bill give people for being in a secluded location in the dark together?

3. When she is about sixteen, why does Meg feel jealousy toward Beth?

4. When Beth calls while Meg and Bill are in Greece, what reason does she give for calling Bill's phone?

5. When Vicky is watching Molly, what criticism of Meg does Molly voice?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is Alfie's full name, and what is its significance?

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

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

5. 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?

6. What sign of growth does Lorelei show in her New Years email to Jim?

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

8. When Kayleigh is talking to Beth about quitting smoking, what does Beth assume she is really saying, and why?

9. How does the perspective shift between Meg and Beth after Meg tries to call Beth back clarify Beth's intentions in calling and her reasons for not answering when Meg calls back?

10. When Meg and Molly are leaving Bird House, what does Molly say she has a hard time imagining, and what question does she ask her mother?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In one lesson, you made predictions about how the novel would end based on whether the Birds can learn to follow Vicky's advice and "Look after each other" (313). Now that you have read the novel's actual ending, do you think that the family members have or have not been able to follow Vicky's advice? What evidence is there in the text to support your interpretation? Write an essay in which you use the novel's final chapters to make a case for or against the idea that the Birds have finally learned how to support and nurture one another.

Essay Topic 2

In what ways is Beth's thinking like her mother's? In what ways does it differ? Do you imagine that Lorelei encouraged her children to develop effective adult thinking skills? Are Beth and Lorelei more alike or more different, emotionally? Write an essay that considers the relationship between having Lorelei Bird as a mother and Beth's delayed intellectual and emotional maturation. Make a clear claim about how Lorelei's parenting affected Beth's maturity, and support your claim with evidence drawn from throughout the text. Be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

What is the function of the incest motif in The House We Grew Up In? How does it impact the reader's understanding of the characters and their struggles in life? How does it convey messages about healthy and unhealthy family relationships? Write an essay in which you describe how this motif is developed in the lives of the various family members, analyze the nature of this alleged "incest," and then advance a theory about what purpose Jewell intends the motif to serve. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from diction, details, narrative perspective, and plot.

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