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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 is the "yellow bridesmaid"?

2. Where do Rena and Dori get breakfast on their drive together?

3. Who does Rena have sex with on the night before the wedding?

4. What has Claire come to the town hall prepared for?

5. Where on campus is the town hall about racism, spurred by the controversy Claire has started, held?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Rena's sister Elizabeth?

2. In the story Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain, what is part of Dori's wedding theme?

3. What does Lyssa tell the director about herself that is a lie before they have sex?

4. What is the general atmosphere like between Cecilia's mother and Nancy Morton during the Alcatraz tour?

5. Why does Lyssa's doctor advise her to have her ovaries removed?

6. What does Cecilia's mother spend years trying to do for her own grandfather?

7. What happens to Aaron when he drives Claire home from the party her senior year?

8. How does Cecilia describe her own mother's childhood?

9. Why does Lyssa dress and groom herself very carefully for the meeting with her mother's doctors?

10. What is the history of Alcatraz for Cecilia's family?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Evans chooses to write the two stories in the collection, Alcatraz and The Office of Historical Corrections, from the first-person point of view, and how do you think this decision affects the reader's experience of these particular stories? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

In the story Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain, how does Evans treat the theme of danger, and the potential sources of danger in Rena's life? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

The last sentence in the story "Boys Go to Jupiter" reads "There are still ten feet between her and the echoing sound of her own voice, telling her she can still be anybody she wants to" (81). Write an essay explaining the meaning of this sentence within the full context of Claire's experience that Evans has laid out for the reader throughout the whole story, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 682 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample