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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. According to paragraph 4, during what month did Anna experience her disaster?

2. Where does the narrator and her mother live?

3. Where does the narrator say she used to live in paragraph 4?

4. What weather condition resulted in the disaster Anna and her husband experienced during their act?

5. What does the narrator say audience members ate while waiting for the act to begin?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Anna and Harold's typical trapeze performance.

2. What stands in the center of town as a reminder of the disaster? Where does the narrator find out about the events that day?

3. Why does the narrator sometimes forget that her mother was part of the Flying Avalons?

4. How does the narrator describe the way her mother moves through their home in New Hampshire in paragraph 1?

5. What type of performer was the narrator's mother? Where does she live and what is her medical condition?

6. Why does the narrator say people in the East are at a disadvantage regarding weather changes than those in the West, where she used to live?

7. Why does the narrator find it unsurprising that her mother was able to perform while seven months pregnant?

8. How is the scene at the circus before the disaster described? What was the weather like? What was the audience doing?

9. What detail about Anna was not mentioned in the newspaper accounts of the disaster?

10. What events followed lightning striking the main tent pole while Harold and Anna were performing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing Louise Erdich’s commentary on family and motherhood in “The Leap.”

Essay Topic 2

Genre is a category assigned to a literary work, like a novel. What are some genres that could be used to classify the story? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Write a detailed analysis of tone in Louise Erdich’s “The Leap." Include whether the tone changes or remains the same. If it changes, include details on when, why and whether this change is effective.

(see the answer keys)

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