View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What garment does Cecilia always wear?

2. Who, in the boys' collective memory, has died recently?

3. Which Lisbon girl is thought of as "the weird sister"?

4. What does Mrs. Lisbon notice about her daughter's appearance inside the casket?

5. Which sister has her own bedroom?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the boys obtain Cecilia's diary?

2. What happens in the Baldinos' backyard to arouse neighborhood suspicions?

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

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

5. Describe Cecilia Lisbon's first attempt at suicide.

6. Name three events the boys read about in Cecilia's diary.

7. Describe Cecilia's bedroom.

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

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

10. How did Cecilia Lisbon die?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the state of the Lisbon house connect to the rest of the story? What connections can be drawn between the conditions of the house and the condition of the people inside it? How do the people viewing it from the outside respond? The people inside?

Essay Topic 2

Jeffrey Eugenides opens the book with the last Lisbon girl's suicide. How does that set the tone for the novel? Is it helpful to the reader or does it take away from the story?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon. What is their relationship like? What are their relationships with their daughters like? How does the male-female dynamic play out in these two characters?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 611 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample