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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. How many floors are contained in the building where the Gold siblings seek out the fortune teller?

2. Before Gertie met Saul, it is said by the narrator that she had wanted to be a what?

3. What date does the narrator finally reveal as the one foretold to Simon by the fortune teller?

4. Whom does Gertie coddle the most out of all of her children?

5. What is Klara's reply when Raj asks her the secret of her Jaws of Life performance?

Short Essay Questions

1. The narrator takes pains to explain that Klara does not share her magic with people in order to deceive them. What is her true reason?

2. How do the Purp employees and owners react to the news of Harvey Milk's assassination and how do they take action?

3. What is the author's purpose for using the allusion to The Statue of Liberty when depicting the children's grandfather Lev?

4. How does the novel's setting within the prologue affect the events of the narrative?

5. What differences between Robert and Simon does the author depict as those that drive Simon to cheat on Robert?

6. How is repetition employed within the opening passage of Part Two:Proteus and to what effect?

7. How is the theme of guilt depicted within Gertie's feelings about her son after his death?

8. How does the author depict Simon's mixed feelings about his mother's decision to relinquish him at the police station?

9. How does Robert's story about his friend Dante demonstrate the themes of violence and hate?

10. What is the significance of Klara's feelings about the phenomenon of red tide?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's choice to tell the story of The Immortalists using the third-person omniscient point of view. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what is the author's intended effect on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the author's focus on the theme of transformation. What message is the author sending about change and about one other theme of your choice?

Essay Topic 3

What is the author's message regarding motherhood and what themes does the author employ in order to send these messages to the reader?

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