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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 do the train officials tell Hadley?

2. For whom does Hadley feel an immediately liking?

3. What does a reporter offer to do?

4. For how long do the Hemingways not speak to each other?

5. Why does Ernest rent an office?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Ernest decide to take some time off from working?

2. Who is Hadley's father and what did he do?

3. How does Ernest start to break into the Paris literary scene?

4. When does Hadley visit Ernest and why is she upset by what he tells her? What is her response?

5. Where is there news about increased conflicts and how does that affect Ernest?

6. Where is Ernest sent on Thanksgiving of 1922 and what does he want Hadley to do?

7. Describe the Hemingway's outing with the Pounds.

8. What does Ernest write about his family?

9. What does Gertrude Stein say about the baby and the lost manuscripts?

10. What does Kate finally share with Hadley?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Oftentimes, a book has more of a character-driven plot rather than action driven, and oftentimes the other way. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven? Action driven?

2. How do you think a plot differs if it is character driven versus action driven?

3. Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why?

4. Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character development share equal time? Why or why not.

5. What type of plot is present in The Paris Wife? Explain your response.

Essay Topic 2

Florence was a feminist before it was fashionable and was obsessed with women's rights. It was no wonder that Hadley suffered from lack of self-esteem - her mother favored Fonnie, her sister who was a few years old than she, and paid little attention to Hadley. Hadley reeled from the death of another older sister, Dorthea, with whom she had her closest familial relationship. On her death bed, her mother inflicted a final measure of unworthiness upon Hadley. She told her that she contacted Dorthea in a séance. Dorthea evidently saw into the Hadley's future, and it was so horrid that she refused to tell Florence what she saw.

1. Explain how you think Florence being a feminist affected Hadley and Hadley's own views on life. Use examples from your own life and the book to support your answer.

2. Discuss why the death of a sister to whom Hadley was close affected her and how you think it did. Use examples from your own life and the book to support your answer.

3. In what ways do you think Hadley's low opinion of herself due to her mother affected Hadley's marriage with Ernest Hemingway? Use examples from your own life and the book to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

There are a number of interesting questions raised by The Paris Wife. The questions are ones that McLain most likely wants readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the McLain' agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss McLain' probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

4. Research the life of McLain and see if/where his life may have influenced his writing.

(see the answer keys)

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