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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 eventually drives Mr. Harvey out of hiding in Chapter 20?

2. What first lets Ray know that something is different with Ruth when Susie enters her body?

3. Who does Abigail believe is the only person keeping Jack alive by Chapter 16?

4. Why does Abigail not want to go to Susie's one-year memorial?

5. Who officially tells Abigail that Jack is doing very badly after his confrontation with Buckley?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Susie realize, while watching from her heaven, about her family after she has entered (and left) Ruth's body?

2. Why is Ruth a celebrity in Susie's heaven?

3. Why does Mr. Harvey feel he has to leave town after Lindsey breaks into his house?

4. Why is the Salmon family tense about Fenerman coming to visit Jack and the rest of the family in the hospital after Jack's heart attack?

5. Who is Mr. O'Dwyer?

6. Why is riding the trains comforting to Susie?

7. How exactly does Lindsey break into Mr. Harvey's house?

8. As the neighbors are gathering for Susie's one-year memorial, what does Lindsey ask of her mother?

9. What does Samuel promise to do with the abandoned house he and Lindsey take shelter in after their college graduation?

10. How does Susie know her way around Hal's bike shop?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Detective Fenerman and the police department play a significant role in the story in The Lovely Bones, even if that role is made significant by their inaction. Discuss 1) how an author can use authority figures in a text, 2) how/if an author relies upon an inherent trust between the reader and authority figures, and 3) at least three ways the relationship between a reader and a text's authority figures can be manipulated (positively or negatively) in a story line.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 12, Franny reminds Susie that her family can only move on when Susie lets them go. Discuss when exactly, if at all, this happens in The Lovely Bones, making sure to use specific examples from the text to support your argument.

Essay Topic 3

The "Snapshots" chapter is unlike any other in The Lovely Bones. Discuss what function it serves in the text and why Sebold may have chosen to switch to this style in the middle of the novel (and then switch back in the very next chapter).

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