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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. Who does Laura write she hopes "doesn't come tonight" in her second diary entry?

2. What did Laura hope would leave her alone on December 16, 1985?

3. One of the key themes of The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer is what?

4. What was Laura attacked by in her dream on October 20, 1985?

5. Laura's diary entries begin when she is how old?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Laura's poem from July 29, 1984. Who is the subject of the poem?

2. What characteristics of Laura's are essential and interconnected to the plot of the narrative?

3. To whom does Laura write directly in her entry from September 15, 1984? Why?

4. What is the significance of owls in the narrative?

5. Describe the thematic and symbolic elements which begin to emerge in the narrative in Laura's 14th year. What themes emerge?

6. What does Laura describe in her first diary entry? What occasion begins the narrative?

7. What does Laura write of her dreams on July 23, 1984? What imagery is used?

8. Describe the symbolism in Laura and Donna's friendship as it evolves in Part 4, April 23, 1986 to July 25, 1986. How does it tie into the narrative's themes?

9. What does Laura describe doing on her fourteenth birthday? What has changed about her?

10. When and where does Laura write her entry from August 6, 1986?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the characters of Maddy and Ronnette Pulaski. What similarities do these young women share? What is each ones relationship to Laura Palmer?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the use of metaphor and simile in the depiction of Laura's horse in the narrative. How does Laura relate to Troy? What is ironic about this metaphor?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of duality in The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. How does the theme manifest in the protagonist? How in other characters?

(see the answer keys)

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