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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. Why is the person Loretta goes to unable to help her?

2. How does Maureen decide to make money?

3. What position is Maureen elected to in school?

4. How does Loretta feel about Mrs. Wendall?

5. What does Loretta discover when she visits her father after moving away?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the result of Jules's and Nadine's adventure?

2. What does Jules learn about Bernard in Chapter 4 of the second book?

3. Which of Jules's behaviors is particularly worrisome to Loretta?

4. What is the content of Maureen's letters?

5. What is happening to Maureen as she begins to come out of her catatonia?

6. What happens to Maureen after Howard's death?

7. How does Jules seduce Nadine?

8. Why does Howard leave the farm in Chapter 6 of the first book?

9. What happens to Loretta after her building burns down during the riots?

10. How does Jules feel after his father's funeral?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The poverty-stricken and violent lifestyle endured by Loretta, as a child, continues on to her own children. Why is the cycle perpetuated with her own children? Is there anything she could have done differently do break this cycle? What was Loretta's childhood like? How did the cycle begin? Do you think Maureen will be able to break this cycle with her own child(ren)? Why or why not? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Maureen went to college in hopes of bettering her situation. Did she get what she wanted? If her plan was to marry someone who could take care of her, why bother going to college? Do you think she was better off with the choice she made, to marry Jim and have him take care of her? Or do you think it would have been better if she had finished school, gotten a job, and taken care of herself? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

The author states that Maureen's character is based upon one of the author's former university students. Do you think that everything that occurs in the novel, therefore, is true? Why or why not? If not, which parts do you think are fictionalized or exaggerated? Why? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

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