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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 Mr. Lisbon show the boys during the party?

2. How does Cecilia succeed in killing herself?

3. In what room do the girls hold their first party?

4. What does Cecilia do for the majority of the afternoon on the day she died?

5. What is found hanging from a crucifix in one of the girls' rooms?

Short Essay Questions

1. What major revelation do the boys have upon entering the Lisbon girls' party?

2. When Peter Sissen reports back to the boys about his time inside the Lisbon house, what does Paul Baldino vow to do?

3. How does the Lisbon girls' party differ from other parties the boys have attended?

4. How did the emergency workers retrieve Cecilia's body?

5. How did Cecilia Lisbon die?

6. Describe Cecilia's bedroom.

7. What do the adult boys discover about Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon after speaking to Mr. Lisbon?

8. What does the cemetery where Cecilia's service is held look like?

9. Describe the appearance of Cecilia's diary.

10. How did it happen that Paul Baldino found Cecilia in the bathtub?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe several ways in which the parents of the neighborhood attempt to protect or shield their children from the Lisbons' suicides. Do their efforts succeed? If so, how? If not, why not?

Essay Topic 2

During the media frenzy following the triple suicide, the boys, "For the first time ever...sympathized with the President because we saw how wildly our sphere of influence was misrepresented by those in no position to know what was going on." Please explain what they meant by this and discuss its justification.

Essay Topic 3

Please discuss the use and effectiveness of foreshadowing throughout the novel. How does Eugenides use it to set the tone? How does it affect the reader? Is it effective? Please explain your answer.

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