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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On what day of the week did the unnamed narrator and her dark-haired friend visit the art gallery?
(a) Wednesday.
(b) Friday.
(c) Saturday.
(d) Monday.

2. How many other people were interacting with the art exhibition at the same time as the unnamed narrator and her dark-haired friend?
(a) 0.
(b) 3.
(c) 2.
(d) 4.

3. Into what type of receptacle did the unnamed narrator urinate in an expression of anger toward John?
(a) A coffee mug.
(b) A teapot.
(c) A bucket.
(d) A trash can.

4. The unnamed narrator recalls wondering "what it would feel like to push" which character "over the edge" (60) of the abyss?
(a) Dylan.
(b) Dominique.
(c) John.
(d) Laura.

5. What is NOT a quality the unnamed narrator ascribed to Artemisia during the summer of 2000?
(a) Untouchable.
(b) Wise.
(c) Old.
(d) Naive.

6. Artemisia told the unnamed narrator that Virgilio had committed what crime against her?
(a) Assault.
(b) Attempted murder.
(c) Slander.
(d) Theft.

7. The unnamed narrator states in the section entitled Los Angeles, 2011 that she dislikes discussing which subject?
(a) Her political beliefs.
(b) Her childhood.
(c) Her parents.
(d) Her religious beliefs.

8. The unnamed narrator shouted at Tom and Teo for the first time on which night during her period of working for Camila's family?
(a) The first.
(b) The eighth.
(c) The tenth.
(d) The third.

9. What tool did the unnamed narrator and her dark-haired friend use to combat their discomfort with a particular element of life?
(a) Humor.
(b) Anger.
(c) Joy.
(d) Nonchalance.

10. The tenant described disliking her acquaintance because she had retained what quality throughout her first few college years?
(a) Intelligence.
(b) Cheerfulness.
(c) Purity.
(d) Originality.

11. What emotion did the unnamed narrator feel when Artemisia finished her story in the section entitled Italy, 2000?
(a) Shame.
(b) Pity.
(c) Admiration.
(d) Anger.

12. How old was the unnamed narrator in the summer of 2000?
(a) 21.
(b) 19.
(c) 17.
(d) 23.

13. The first section of the novel Topics of Conversation is set in which month of 2000?
(a) September.
(b) June.
(c) July.
(d) August.

14. The unnamed narrator asserts that she and her dark-haired friend both loathed what element of life, even as they "understood its necessity" (48)?
(a) Affection.
(b) Trust.
(c) Intimacy.
(d) Vulnerability.

15. How does the narrator say it makes her feel when someone tells her "a story, a secret, a sharing of confidence" (27)?
(a) Amorous.
(b) Covetous.
(c) Jealous.
(d) Nostalgic.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what discipline was the PhD that the unnamed narrator never finished?

2. What element does the unnamed narrator NOT include within her definition of female pain?

3. What kind of school was the unnamed narrator attending when she met her now-ex-husband John?

4. What does the unnamed narrator cite as "the Perez family policy" (11)?

5. How does the unnamed narrator describe the temperature of the nighttime air she encountered as she walked home at the end of Ann Arbor, 2002?

(see the answer keys)

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