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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 country is the novel primarily set?

2. How does Hortensia feel about the letter requesting the burial?

3. In Chapter Eight, who contacts the Katterijn committee?

4. How did Hortensia disguise herself so as to follow Peter?

5. What does Agnes return to Marion?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Hortensia tries to apologize to Marion?

2. Why does Hortensia not wish to help Beulah Gierdien?

3. How is the committee dealing with the issues of Beulah Gierdien and the Samsodiens in Chapter Eight?

4. Why does Marion prefer her dog to her late husband?

5. What happens in the construction accident?

6. Why does Marion label Hortensia "a thief"?

7. How does Marion’s daughter Marelena feel about Marion’s displacement from home?

8. How does Marion treat Agnes?

9. Why do Marion and Hortensia argue over the remodel?

10. What was Marion’s relationship with her parents like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Hortensia and Marion may seem like very different women on the surface, but they have many similarities. Compare and contrast their overall life histories and world views.

Essay Topic 2

How does the theme of “design” function in the novel? In what ways is it a focus of both Marion and Hortensia’s lives?

Essay Topic 3

What factors shape Hortensia’s very negative and mean attitude? What elements from her past? What elements from her present?

(see the answer keys)

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