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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 paragraph 6, what does the narrator say her mother is able to live comfortably in?

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

3. What condition does the narrator's mother have as explained in paragraph 1?

4. What is something the narrator says happens when she is in her room and gets a "whiff of smoke from the stove downstairs" (para.2)?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. 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?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing Louise Erdich’s language style and word choice in “The Leap." What are some words that stand out to you and why? What words are repeated?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing narrative voice in “The Leap." Include thoughts on how the narrative voice of the story is effective in conveying the story’s themes.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the author of “The Leap." Who is she? What else has she written? How is “The Leap” similar or different from her previous works?

(see the answer keys)

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