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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. Why does Nell text Francie and Colette to turn on the Patricia Faith show right away?

2. What causes Yuko to say the May Mothers need a new meeting place?

3. What Billy Idol song's lyrics do the women end up singing along to at the bar?

4. What did Winnie study as a child?

5. In Chapter Eight, what is it revealed that Colette has been worrying about?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter Nine, what has changed about the narrator's situation?

2. What is revealed about Colette's mother in Chapter Seven?

3. What is Nell's theory about Token, and why does Colette believe Nell is probably mistaken?

4. When Colette is at the park in Chapter Eight, what secret desire is she thinking about, and what stops her from trying to obtain it?

5. When the narrator is pacing inside her house, what memory does she recall, wondering if it was a hallucination?

6. How do Chapters One through Three characterize Francie?

7. How do the Prologue and Chapter One characterize the narrator?

8. In Chapter Eight, what memory does Nell suddenly have related to smoking?

9. What makes Colette feel like an impostor among the other May Mothers?

10. What does Francie remember about Mr. Colburn, her high school science teacher?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How are the heterosexual relationships in The Perfect Mother similar to and different from the same-sex friendships portrayed in the novel? Consider the variety and complexity of the current partnerships between the women and their children's fathers as well as the women's previous sexual and romantic relationships. Also think about the number of abusive or coercive encounters with men that the main female characters have had, and consider what message these are conveying. Write an essay that compares and contrasts the qualities of the female friendships and the heterosexual romantic/sexual relationships portrayed in the novel. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

What is Molloy's purpose in pointing out that adverse circumstances like the kidnapping of a child can cause a flare-up in anti-immigrant ideas? How is this thematic motif in The Perfect Mother related to the book's concerns with perspective-taking and judgment of others in general? How is this motif related to the book's concerns with the marginalization of women? Write an essay in which you consider how The Perfect Mother's status as a domestic thriller makes it ideally suited for exploring how adverse, high-intensity circumstances differentially impact marginalized groups. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

In what sense does Gossip! magazine embody everything that The Perfect Mother is claiming is wrong with contemporary media? What factors influence the choices this magazine's staff makes, and how much weight do they give to truth and the social impact of their choices? Consider the magazine's name and the role that gossip plays in this novel as well as the way the women are portrayed in this magazine and women's role in creating and supporting this portrayal. Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the rhetorical function of including Gossip! magazine in this novel. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

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