Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. How do both Neeley and Teb respond to Colette's latest chapters?
2. What is the name of the former Secretary of State who is now raising money for Teb?
3. Where does the novel take place?
4. What did Winnie study as a child?
5. Which May Mother does Nell say she was with at the bar, even though this woman did not attend the event?
Short Essay Questions
1. How do Chapters One through Three characterize Nell?
2. What do the Prologue and Chapter One make clear was the father's reaction to the narrator's pregnancy, and why?
3. 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?
4. In Chapter Eleven, what does Francie decide the police need to investigate further?
5. How does Bodhi Mogaro's attorney explain away the evidence against Mogaro?
6. In Chapter Nine, what has changed about the narrator's situation?
7. Why is Nell returning to work, and how does she feel about it?
8. Who is "Token," and what is the implied source of his nickname?
9. How do the Prologue and Chapter One characterize the narrator?
10. How do the narrative perspective and point of view shift from the Prologue through Chapter Three?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
What messages about the media does Molloy convey in The Perfect Mother? Is there any irony in the fact that Molloy is making money and building a reputation by writing about kidnapping and murder, just as Faith makes money and builds her reputation by talking about kidnapping and murder on her show, or is there an important distinction between these two kinds of media? How do the high stakes of a murder investigation intensify the outcomes of Faith's journalistic decisions? How does the text's overall depiction of the press coverage of the investigation support the same messages as its depiction of Patricia Faith? How does the text's depiction of press coverage of Nell's relationship with Lachlan Raine also support these messages? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about the messages that The Perfect Mother sends about the media. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.
Essay Topic 2
How realistic are the changes in Winnie described in the book's epilogue? What has changed in her thinking about other people? How has she changed as a mother? Do some research into the lasting impact of crime on victims, especially the kidnapping of a child. Write an essay in which you use details and language from the epilogue to demonstrate exactly how Midas's kidnapping has changed Winnie and then provide information from research as you evaluate how realistic this ending is. Be sure to cite any quoted evidence and evidence drawn from outside sources in MLA format.
Essay Topic 3
What message about social expectations and motherhood is conveyed through the ironic contrast between the newsletters and the main characters' actual experiences? The women in this novel have voluntarily signed up to be a part of the May Mothers' group, and their actions and dialogue make it clear that, at least initially, they strongly value this group's advice. Why? What does this convey about motherhood in our society? At what point in the novel do the women begin to question the relentless positivity in the newsletters? Is this breaking point different for different characters? Write an essay in which you consider the women's changing reactions to the messages about motherhood contained in the May Mothers' newsletters: what is the meaning of the ironic contrast between these newsletters and the women's actual lives, and what is the meaning conveyed by their gradual alienation from the messages contained in these newsletters? Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.
|
This section contains 1,247 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
