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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. Where does Colin decide to stay while he is in England helping Meg clear out Bird House?

2. When Maddy makes a beautiful Easter lunch, what does Lorelei complain about?

3. At the end of her Chapter 12 email to Jim, what news does Lorelei share?

4. Besides Vicky's funeral, what does Kayleigh say brought her back to England?

5. How does the family celebrate once they finish clearing their first room at Bird House?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does dramatic irony create a bittersweet mood when Lorelei announces her success in staying at Maddy's house?

2. What evidence is there at Vicky's funeral and wake that Meg's attitude about Colin and Kayleigh is changing?

3. What caused Meg to kick Bill out in 2003, and what was the result?

4. In her Chapter 8 email to Jim, what claim does Lorelei make about the cleanliness of her home, and how is this contradicted by evidence elsewhere in the text?

5. How does Meg's answer to Colin's question about how she is feeling about Lorelei's death demonstrate her complex feelings about her mother?

6. During Beth's September, 2006 visit to England, what contrast is there between her attitude toward the affair and Bill's?

7. How does Lorelei characterize Rory in her email to Jim?

8. What is Vicky's perspective on the way Lorelei helps her during her illness?

9. What does Lorelei's Chapter 16 email to Jim reveal happened between her and Rhys on the night before Rhys's death?

10. What obstacle prevents Lorelei and Jim from spending time together in person, and how does Jim propose they deal with this issue?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

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

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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