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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The unnamed narrator reveals what detail about her only child in the section entitled Los Angeles, 2011?
(a) The child's father is not Robert.
(b) The child's father is not John.
(c) The child's father is not Jeff.
(d) The child's father is not alive.

2. Laura told the unnamed narrator that for a man, "telling people what you want makes you" (60) what?
(a) Weak.
(b) Angry.
(c) Stupid.
(d) Powerful.

3. The final sentence of Ann Arbor, 2002 describes the unnamed narrator's plan to take what action when she gets home?
(a) Play music.
(b) Eat.
(c) Sleep.
(d) Read.

4. In which city did the unnamed narrator live when she left for a trip in Italy in the summer of 2000?
(a) Carmel.
(b) Sunnyvale.
(c) San Francisco.
(d) New York City.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. On what part of the unnamed narrator's body did Artemisia place her hand, as described at the end of Italy, 2000?

2. Artemisia told the unnamed narrator that Virgilio had committed what crime against her?

3. The unnamed narrator shouted at Tom and Teo for the first time on which night during her period of working for Camila's family?

4. What transgression did the unnamed narrator commit during the time she was trying to conceive a child with her husband?

5. How many hours of supervised visitation with her children was the artist given as a result of the custody order?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss an instance when Popkey uses the second person point of view to connect with the reader.

2. How does the unnamed narrator explain her impulse to kiss Artemisia near the end of the section called Italy, 2000?

3. What distinction does the unnamed narrator make between "the woman as object" and "the woman as subject" (45)?

4. What was the subject of the Swedish artist's creations, according to the unnnamed narrator?

5. What emotion does the unnamed narrator name as one that is difficult for women to express?

6. At the end of the section entitled Los Angeles, 2011, the unnamed narrator describes an act she took with a teapot. What was it?

7. In what way does Popkey send a message about the dangers of complying with patriarchy-fueled gender norms in the section entitled Ann Arbor, 2002?

8. Describe the interactive element of the Swedish artist's exhibition.

9. Discuss the epigraph Miranda Popkey includes prior to the start of the novel Topics of Conversation.

10. Describe the four characters featured at the center of the gathering in Ann Arbor, 2002.

(see the answer keys)

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