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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. How do Billy and Annabel first meet?

2. Who does Annabel respond to Frederick's possible time of arrival to the party ?

3. What does Annabel say when she arrives at her flat door after she learns about Frederick's suicide?

4. What does Annabel find when she goes to check the baby during the party?

5. Who is Gijo?

Short Essay Questions

1. Until quite recently, how would people have described Annabel's physical appearance?

2. Annabel was reading her new script, "The Staircase" when the bell rang. She answered the door and saw friends of Billy, or people who seemed to be his friends and who said they were there for a house warming party at seven 0'clock, according to Frederick. What did Annabel do?

3. Frederick and Anabel had a secret life in their minds, a life unknown to one another. What was this secret life?

4. In Chapter IV, when Annabel is taken to view the body, the doctors and nurses who escort her being to speak rapidly in Italian and she realizes they are trying to console her. How does she react?

5. "The House on the Piazza" did not garner great reviews for the film, but how did it help Annabel's acting career?

6. Frederick, always keeping in the back of his mind the idea of leaving Annabel, had taken a mistress and in Chapter III, we learn that he is constantly going away. How is Annabel managing her private life?

7. Annabel was now the principal wage earner. Frederick's intellectual aspect and dignity were possible because of what Annabel earned. How did Frederick feel about this?

8. The doctor gives Annabel two aspirins and a glass of warmed up wine. The leading neighbors of the palazzo, at the sight of the baby in Annabel's arms, get teary at the sight of Annabel's' tears. She is crying quite hard, when the child says something about how actresses can make themselves cry. What in the child's words brings back echoes of Frederick?

9. Annabel's film company was worried about the couple's divorcing at what could be the wrong time, such as the release of a new picture. How did Annabel decide to save her marriage?

10. Dr.Tommasi brings Annabel to her flat where the press is waiting for her. She tells the doctor she needs a half hour to see her baby and then she wants to see the press, but she wants all her neighbors to be with her. Why is Annabel asking for her neighbors to be with her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Billy, Annabel and Frederick were longtime friends. Have they remained friends? What is the ongoing relationship between Annabel and Billy? Is Billy trustworthy? Does he have ulterior motives for his friendship?

Essay Topic 2

What exactly is meant by a public image and how is it achieved? How did having a public image affect the lives of Annabel and Frederick? Without their public images, how different do you think Annabel and Frederick's lives would have been?

Essay Topic 3

Is the author,Muriel Spark, a product of her times? The book was published forty years ago. Do you think attitudes towards men and women have changed? If changed, has it affected the workplace? The home? At times, do you find the author skewed in favor of favor of Frederick or Annabel? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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