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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 does Jamie call Jael when she passes his house?

2. What does Sadie tell Jamie about her underwater dream in the fantasy Jael has about her?

3. What does Kachelle say to Jael after she says she does not believe in heaven?

4. What do Eric and Lyra do at her apartment and Lyra wins in "How to Make Love to A Physicist"?

5. What does Jael feel about Sadie when she speaks to her at church?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Granny concerned about if someone from the news speaks to the police regarding what happened to Jamie?

2. Where do Eric and Lyra meet in “How to Make Love to a Physicist”?

3. 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”?

4. What happens when Jael’s Granny tells Jael she needs to get a job?

5. How does Granny describe the way Jael reacted when she hit her when she was six?

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

7. What are some of the things Lyra does based on her therapist suggestions after she deleted Eric‘s phone number for the second time in “How to Make Love to a Physicist”?

8. In “How to Make Love to a Physicist,” why does Lyra decide against inviting Eric up to her room when it is 2 a.m. and they have spent the entire day talking?

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

10. What does Granny say about the teasing Jael experienced at school particularly from Twan who always called her jailbird?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay describing the author’s narrative tone and writing style in two of the stories from The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. Compare and contrast the author’s tone and writing style in each story. Use examples from the text as evidence for your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing the letter in “Dear Sister.” The letter writer writes in the presence and with the input of her sisters. How might this letter be different if they were not around? What does she write on their behalf? What might she have included if they were not present?

Essay Topic 3

Mother/ daughter relationships are explores in several of the short stories in The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. Choose 2-3 stories and explore the theme of mother-daughter relationships within the context of each story. Compare and contrast this theme from each of the stories you choose.

(see the answer keys)

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