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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 is Peg Davis?

2. Who is Franz?

3. What does Loretta tell Stella on Christmas day?

4. What is Pacific Cove?

5. Who gives Stella a ride to the train station?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jude give Kennedy in New York?

2. What career path does Kennedy step into after acting?

3. Who is Franz?

4. Who keeps Jude company at the hospital?

5. Who comes to Kennedy's play in New York?

6. What subject does Stella study in college?

7. Why was Stella fired from her first job away from home?

8. Who is Charity Harris?

9. Why do the Walkers leave an affluent L.A. neighborhood?

10. What does Kennedy tell Jude about her mother's background during the musical run?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you analyze the setting of Mallard, Louisiana. What is this place, and what is it like to live there, based on the lives of the characters who have lived there? Use evidence from the text for support.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you examine how The Vanishing Half handles the concept of returning home. Which characters in the novel return home, and why? In what ways has their understanding of or relationship to home changed or stayed the same since returning? Use evidence from the text for support.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you explore Stella and Desiree's twin identity. What does being a twin entail for these two? How does their understanding of each other and their shared twin identity change once Stella leaves and over the course of the novel? Use evidence from the text for support.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 491 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample