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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 what Chinese city did John Leal live?

2. Why does Will say that he would like to learn how to fly a plane?

3. Who is the waiter that wins the pool when the waitstaff places a bet at the restaurant?

4. What type of drink does Will serve on New Year's Eve at the restaurant?

5. Who does Will imagine comes to Phoebe's side during the explosion?

Short Essay Questions

1. What beverage do Will and Phoebe drink during their first visit to John Leal's house?

2. What is the name of the pregnant girl whom John Leal met in a gulag?

3. What personal item of Phoebe's does John Leal look inside?

4. Where do Will and Phoebe reunite after their fight (in Chapter 13?)

5. In what city does John Leal end up after leaving Noxhurst?

6. Where are Phoebe and her mother driving home from on the evening of the car accident?

7. Why does Phoebe get angry with Will after winter break (in Chapter 13)?

8. Why does John Leal go to Hilcox Street?

9. Why does the usual piano player at John Leal's not able to play on Phoebe's first evening at John Leal's house?

10. Why does Will ask for a promotion?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Select one of the three primary characters (Will, Phoebe, or John Leal) and discuss the changes that this character undergoes. These changes may include physical or emotional changes as well as changes in relationships with other characters. In addition to addressing this change, discuss how this change propels the novel's plot.

Essay Topic 2

Many of the scenes feature men and women performing and representing the traditional binary (male-female) gender system. Write an essay analyzing the role that gender plays in the novel, specifically how gender seems to affect different characters' behaviors, motives, or beliefs.

Essay Topic 3

Phoebe goes through various stages of grief while processing her childhood trauma. Analyze the healthy and unhealthy ways Phoebe has coped with sadness, anger, and guilt throughout the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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