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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 Jamie doing when Jael walks by his house after school after the first time she went there?

2. What does Granny say she is going to tell Jael she needs to do after she told her she made “shitty crabs” (129)?

3. How does Jael describe Jamie after he comes out of his room with Kachelle?

4. How does Lyra apologize to Eric for not calling him for awhile in "How to Make Love to A Physicist"?

5. In "How to Make Love to A Physicist," how often do Eric and Lyra speak once she finally returns his calls?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the things Lyra says she does not discuss with Eric when they first meet at the conference in “How to Make Love to a Physicist”?

2. What does Jamie say to Jael when she walks by his house alone after the first time she and Kachelle had gone there?

3. What does Eric tell Lyra he is going to need her to do if they are going to try to make it work when he calls her after he receives the sketch she sent him as an apology in “How to Make Love to a Physicist”?

4. What does Daughter say to her brother Rico the first time he complains about his mother talking about Eddie Levert?

5. What types of things do Eric and Lyra discuss over the course of their days together at the conference in “How to Make Love to a Physicist”?

6. What is the narrator's instructions in “Instructions for Married Christian Husbands” under the “Social media and technology” section?

7. What is the mother talking about at the beginning of “When Eddie Levert Comes”?

8. Who does Jael describe in her first journal entry and what does she think of that person?

9. What does the narrator of “Instructions for Married Christian Husbands” say she will do if she ever develops feelings for him under the section “Feelings”?

10. What does Jael say at the end of the story in reference to her grandmother’s saying that “every shut eye ain’t sleep“ (144)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Unfaithful married men appear in several of the short stories in The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. Write an essay exploring the theme of infidelity among married men in at least two of the stories in the collection.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing Philyaw’s choice to write “Peach Cobbler” from the daughter, Olivia’s point of view. Discuss how this point-of-view impacts the reader’s experience. Using direct examples from the text, explain why this point-of-view is or is not an effective choice.

Essay Topic 3

Several of the short stories in the secret lives of short church ladies include the perspective of the other woman in an affair. Write an essay exploring test theme from the perspective of the other woman in “Peach Cobbler,“ “Instructions for Married Christian Husbands,” and “Not-Daniel.”

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