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

2. What kind of music does Cecilia like to listen to?

3. Whose late arrival gives life to the party?

4. What does Mr. Lisbon say was Cecilia's state of mind the day she killed herself?

5. What is Mrs. Lisbon serving at the party?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Cecilia's two moods toward the end of the diary?

2. What does Peter Sissen find in the Lisbon girls' bathroom?

3. What does Cecilia look like in her coffin?

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

5. Describe Cecilia's ascent from the party to her bedroom.

6. What were Mr. Lisbon's problems with the cemeteries he visited?

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

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

9. Who was Dominic Palazzano and what was his part in Cecilia's story?

10. Why were the boys happy that Joe came to the party?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Most people, after a tragedy, look for something or someone on whom to put the blame, even if it is the victim(s). This happens several times throughout the course of the novel. Please discuss at least three ways in which a character tries to place blame, including on whom/what, why, and how it affects other characters/the story itself.

Essay Topic 2

At the dance, Therese says to her date, "We just want to live. If anyone would let us." What does she mean? Are the Lisbon girls not living? Is she referring to Cecilia, or to her own future suicide? Is there someone or something refusing to let them live?

Essay Topic 3

The Virgin Suicides is full of sexual and religious symbolism. Please choose at least three major symbols and explain their significance to the story and relation to one another, and explain how these two seemingly disparate subjects intertwine.

(see the answer keys)

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