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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 acts performed before Anna and her husband's act on the day of the disaster?

2. What did Anna and Harold do "openly" as they performed according to paragraph 5?

3. Where does the narrator and her mother live?

4. After reading paragraph 1, what do readers learn about the narrator's mother's former partner?

5. What stands "cast in concrete" (para. 3) to commemorate the accident?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay examining fire as a symbol in Leap. In what scenes does fire appear? What is the context? How does this symbol develop the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing the narrative structure of “The Leap." What effect does this have on the story and the reader? Use direct examples from the story to support your analysis.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss elements of the narrative structure: Exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the story’s themes?

(see the answer keys)

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