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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 do dancers use to keep the edges of their ribbons from fraying?

2. What do Dara and Marie jokingly call Charlie's PT?

3. How did Mr. and Mrs. Durant die?

4. What did Mrs. Bloom do the previous year that Charlie brings up in Part I as being odd?

5. What type of dance do the Durants specialize in?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Charlie's health problems and how did he develop them?

2. How do Charlie, Marie and Dara originally meet?

3. What does Dara remember about her mother's and father's relationship?

4. What does Dara think about as the major differences between herself and Marie?

5. What does Dara notice about Marie when she is around Derek, the contractor?

6. How do the other students at the dance school generally treat the girl who is cast as Clara?

7. Why does Dara refuse to touch students past a certain age?

8. What does Dara not want Marie to share with Derek in Part II about their lives?

9. What happens at the dance school in Part I that sets Dara, Marie and Charlie on a terrible trajectory?

10. What relationship do Dara, Marie and Charlie have for the longest time, until recently, in Part I?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do the other students treat Bailey Bloom after she is cast as Clara in The Nutcracker, and what does this behavior reveal about the nature of ballet and its students, in Dara's opinion? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Why is it so significant that Marie dyes her hair blond shortly after starting a relationship with Derek, and how do Dara and Charlie react to Marie's new look? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

What tactics and techniques does Abbott use to establish and maintain suspense throughout this novel? Write a journal entry explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 581 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample