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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 is Nell's line of work?

2. What is the name of the babysitter that Nell provides for Winnie?

3. What does the text's description of Winnie's home establish about her?

4. When Lowell learns that Francie is texting Winnie, what do his comments imply?

5. Where does Nell go right after she leaves the clothing store in Chapter Eight?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Francie bring a camera with her to the park in Chapter 10?

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

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

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

5. What do the Prologue and Chapter One make clear was the father's reaction to the narrator's pregnancy, and why?

6. 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?

7. Who is "Token," and what is the implied source of his nickname?

8. How does Chapter One hint at trouble in the narrator's childhood?

9. How does Bodhi Mogaro's attorney explain away the evidence against Mogaro?

10. While Colette is out running in Chapter Eight, what source of comfort is she wishing for, and why can she not get it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Perfect Mother functions as a piece of entertainment, an intellectual puzzle, and a vehicle for several related social messages. How does Molloy use the conventions of mystery, (such as an opening that hooks the reader by creating questions and suspense, a strong atmosphere, high stakes, an engaging "sleuth," time pressure, clues, misdirection, foreshadowing, etc.) to accomplish one or more of these purposes? Write an essay in which you focus on how Molloy uses the conventions of mystery to entertain the reader, create an engaging puzzle, and/or convey messages about society. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence and evidence drawn from outside sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

What messages about female friendship are conveyed in The Perfect Mother? How do these messages relate to the novel's concerns with marginalization and the role of women in American society? How does the novel portray the complexity of friendship, and which aspects of friendship does it seem to value most? Write an essay that takes and defends a position about the messages this novel conveys about friendship among women. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Which conventions of the domestic thriller does Molloy observe? Which does she ignore or even actively subvert? How do these choices impact the reader? What messages might Molloy be trying to convey through these choices? Write an essay in which you consider the expectations a reader has of domestic thrillers and what Molloy accomplishes through fulfilling some of these expectations but not others. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence and evidence drawn from outside sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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