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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 it implied that Nell is about to do when she calls Hoyt in Chapter Seventeen?

2. What does Scarlett do in an attempt to disable the women's phones?

3. What does Colette's response to the teenage girl on the train in Chapter Seventeen demonstrate about Colette?

4. What does Token tell Francie that makes her realize how unlikely it is that Andersen had anything to do with Midas's disappearance?

5. When Colette calls Francie in Chapter Twenty, what is she so worried about that she is crying during the phone call?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Colette and Nell see Winnie's interview with the police, what causes them to worry about Winnie's mental health?

2. At the beginning of Chapter Twenty-One, what has changed in Charlie and Colette's relationship?

3. What frightening event happens while Colette is on the subway, and how does she react?

4. When Token shows up at Francie's apartment in Chapter Twenty, what does he reveal about his long-ago arrest?

5. What are Nell's motivations for ignoring her own standards in order to accept and keep the job at Simon French?

6. Where did Token get the papers that he gives to Falk, and how have his intentions regarding these papers shifted since he gained possession of them?

7. In Chapter Fourteen, what causes Colette to jump to the conclusion that Midas is dead?

8. In Chapter Twenty-One, what plan for her career does Colette share with Charlie?

9. During her questioning of the person she meets at the bar in Chapter Fourteen, what does Francie learn about Winnie?

10. How does Francie's mental state both help and hinder the efforts to find Midas?

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

Given the thematic motifs in The Perfect Mother, why is it so appropriate that the solution to the mystery it contains rests on the reader finally understanding how identities have been obscured by assumptions? By the end of the novel, the reader is aware of having misunderstood the identities of Joshua, Token, and the first-person narrator. The novel's puzzle can only be solved when the reader fully understands each of these identities. What does this have to do with other aspects of the novel, such as the media's misrepresentation of people and the emphasis on perspective created by shifts in narrative point of view and perspective? Write an essay in which you consider how the inference gaps that structure this mystery mimic the novel's thematic concerns. 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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