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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 emotion did the unnamed narrator feel when Artemisia finished her story in the section entitled Italy, 2000?

2. Laura told the unnamed narrator that for a man, "telling people what you want makes you" (60) what?

3. Which character told the unnamed narrator and others a story in Ann Arbor, 2002 about the rape of an undergraduate by a graduate student?

4. How old was the unnamed narrator in the summer of 2000?

5. The unnamed narrator reveals that she has been married how many times in her life?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. For what reason was the narrator in Italy in the summer of 2000?

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

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

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

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

7. How does the unnamed narrator feel about society's understanding of "the woman as object" versus "the woman as subject" (45)?

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

9. How did the unnamed narrator feel about the dissolution of Laura's marriage?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss John's role within the events of the novel and explain how his character helps to further develop certain themes inherent in Popkey's novel Topics of Conversation.

Essay Topic 2

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Popkey’s novel Topics of Conversation. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the instances of irony within the narrative of Topics of Conversation and analyze Popkey’s purpose for including each instance you discuss.

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