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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 old was Sandy in Chapter 8?

2. What gift did Lyman give Sandy in Chapter 9?

3. When did Mavis decide it was time for her and Sandy to marry?

4. What did Mavis say Edith and Lyman looked like?

5. What did Edith say she and Lyman could do with the money she saved?

Short Essay Questions

1. What story does Sandy tell about the Wellrights?

2. What did Mavis say about Edith and Lyman while on the Ferris Wheel?

3. How did Edith and Sandy feel about Lyman's return in 1961?

4. What did Leona announce in 1952?

5. After John's death, what did Sandy and Leona argue about?

6. When, where, and how did John die?

7. Why did Mavis and Edith insist on staying at the county fair later than planned?

8. On the night of Lyman's return, what did he bring out from his suitcases?

9. What was Sandy's educational standing at the end of his fourth year of college?

10. What worried Sandy about Mavis' first pregnancy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the motif of dependence in the novel "The Tie That Binds." Who depends on whom? How does this affect the characters who have others who are dependent on them? Discuss Lyman's and Roy's dependence on Edith. How does this affect Edith?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the motif of duty. Who does the protagonist feel dutiful towards, and why? Did Lyman feel dutiful towards anyone? How does Edith's sense of duty affect her path in life?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the death motif in the novel "The Tie That Binds." What deaths take place throughout the narrative? How do these deaths affect the principle characters of the novel? Is there any deeper meaning behind any of the deaths which take place in "The Tie That Binds"?

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