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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. In Chapter 9, Esther is on her way to which type of therapy?

2. What action does Cecilia take in order to meet John-Paul upon his arrival home?

3. While Rachel is being driven home from the Tupperware party, she is told that the driver is reminded of Janie when she looks at which character?

4. In what location does Cecilia find a mysterious letter at the start of the novel?

5. What is the name of the principal at St. Angela's school?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Cecilia comes to believe that she is having a nervous breakdown over John-Paul's news, what is her reaction to the realization and why?

2. What themes are introduced by the epigraph Moriarty includes at the beginning of The Husband's Secret?

3. For what object had Cecilia been searching prior to the novel's opening?

4. What major news is revealed to Rachel in Chapter 3 and how does the news contrast with her expectations?

5. What event finally prompts Cecilia to read the mysterious letter?

6. Provide an example from the novel that displays masterful use of an omniscient narrator.

7. Of what cause did Ed officially die and how does his official cause of death differ from Rachel's ideas?

8. To what conclusions does Lucy come regarding the development of a relationship between Will and Felicity?

9. What is the reason for Rachel's guilt about the day of Janie's murder?

10. What information about their father John-Paul do Cecilia's daughters share with her before she opens the letter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Moriarty's choice to tell the story of The Husband's Secret using a third person omniscient narrator. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Moriarty’s intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Perform a biographical criticism of The Husband's Secret by researching Moriarty's life and work. Be sure to create a strong and specific claim focused on this particular book and then support that claim with quotes from the book and from your research of Moriarty.

Essay Topic 3

How are the topics of marriage, love, and sex treated within the novel The Husband's Secret and how does their treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?

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