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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 capacity did the unnamed narrator work for her friend Camila's family in the summer of 2000?

2. With which character did the unnamed narrator live in 2002?

3. What kind of school was the unnamed narrator attending when she met her friend Laura?

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

5. Whose literary work was the unnamed narrator reading during the summer of 2000?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the telephone symbolize within the section of the novel entitled Italy, 2000?

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

3. For what reason did the unnamed narrator see little of Camila during the trip to Italy?

4. Describe the type of humor Popkey often uses within Topics of Conversation and provide an example.

5. How does the unnamed narrator feel about the truth and lies, according to her statements in Los Angeles, 2011?

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

8. For what reason does the unnamed narrator use a hedge maze as a metaphor for Artemisia's life?

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Popkey's messages about motherhood within the text Topics of Conversation.

Essay Topic 2

Sensory details are used frequently by Popkey in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of Topics of Conversation. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Popkey’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

Essay Topic 3

Explicate the theme of shame within Topics of Conversation. What is Popkey’s message regarding shame and how do you know?

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