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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. What has Betty Sue's father revealed to Peggy?

2. Where does Randall Jackson move to from San Francisco?

3. Why does Sughrue leave Melinda in the night?

4. What does the person in the woods bully Sughrue into doing for his/her benefit?

5. What did Selma Hinds do to help Betty Sue?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is it significant that Albert Griffith searched the morgue for Betty Sue?

2. Is Edna's treatment of Sughrue out of character for her? Why?

3. How do Trahearne's novels parallel his personality and life?

4. Why would Sughrue just accept the beatings from Jackson's men?

5. What do Sughrue and Trahearne's interactions with the nurse teach the readers about these two men?

6. How do Selma Hinds' actions characterize her?

7. How would Sughrue be affected by his experiences in Vietnam and the discovery of the butchered 14-year old boy?

8. What prompts Sughrue to say he will "rise and do what [he] knew he had to do, to what [he] owed the women"?

9. How does Peggy Blain's explanation of Betty Sue contribute to the development of Betty Sue's allure?

10. What events does the use of alcohol foreshadow as the book opens?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sughrue describes Melinda's sculptures many times and realizes there is a connection between Melinda and her art. How do these sculptures parallel Melinda?

Essay Topic 2

San Francisco as a location for much of the plot development is ironic. San Francisco has two sides--the place where free thinkers live and the place where people like Betty Sue disappear. What is ironic about the two views of San Francisco?

Essay Topic 3

Rosie and Betty Sue are not together for a lengthy time in this novel, yet they are mother and daughter. How are Rosie and Betty Sue similar?

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This section contains 846 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample