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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. Who decided to accelerate the loans Winnie’s parents had taken out?

2. Who hired Crystal for her first job in sugar production?

3. With which of the following does Part Three: The Wedding Dinner begin?

4. What is “the worst thing you could call a Michif” (164)?

5. For what motel does Martin head after his first bank robbery?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Hugo keep the bookstore open during Kismet’s second wedding reception?

2. Why is lambsquarters considered the Prince of Greens?

3. Why can most people not see where Winnie’s family farmstead had been?

4. Why do Winnie’s contemporaries favor the kind of small dogs she has?

5. How does Kismet respond to her mother-in-law’s naming her?

6. What was the first job Crystal had in sugar production?

7. Why does Jeniver note Crystal’s case will be difficult?

8. What, for Kismet, is the signal that her youth is ended?

9. What do Hugo and Kismet do on the night of her wedding?

10. Why are Gary’s groomsmen strained as his second wedding reception begins?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

To what extent does the novel stake out a political position? What position is it? What in the novel shows that position, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

Explicate the significance of the name of any one character in the text.

Essay Topic 3

Within the novel, there are gestures towards things that might be called supernatural. Within the context of the novel, are they real or hallucinatory? What in the novel demonstrates as much, and how does it do so?

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This section contains 531 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample