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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 month did Fenno's bookstore open?

2. What flowers were flattened to build kennels for Paul's wife's dogs?

3. Including Paul, how many people are on the tour to Greece?

4. What was the name of Paul's wife?

5. Years ago, where did Paul admire a ruined temple with his son and a group of journalists?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some sketches that Fern shows Paul?

2. What was a major expenditure in furnishing the bookstore, and why was it a wise investment?

3. Where did Paul meet his wife?

4. What does Paul do for a living, and how does he like his job?

5. What does Fenno say about his mother's death in Chapter 4?

6. How and where does Paul die?

7. What is found in an old vase in Chapter 6?

8. What is Dennis's family like?

9. Who was Colin Swift?

10. Who was Malachy Burns?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Fern, Tony, Fenno, Dennis, and Richard discuss motherhood in the last section of the book. Do they have a shared definition of what motherhood is? How does the way that each person was raised affect his/her view of motherhood? How did the mothers who raised these people affect their children's lives and the people their children became?

Essay Topic 2

Happiness is important for Paul and for Fenno. How are the two men looking for happiness? Do either man achieve happiness? If so, how do they attain it?

Essay Topic 3

Glass uses third-person and first-person points of view in the novel. How does the change in points of view advance the plot? Why can the story not be told as effectively with just one point of view?

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This section contains 603 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample