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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. 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?

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

3. Laura said that Dylan's story about his childhood had made her think he was taking what action in regard to intimacy?

4. The unnamed narrator describes Artemisia's hair in the summer of 2000 as being what length?

5. The unnamed narrator states that Artemisia was how old in the summer of 2000?

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 feel about the truth and lies, according to her statements in Los Angeles, 2011?

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

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

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

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

7. How did the unnamed narrator view Artemisia during the trip to Italy in 2000 and why?

8. 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?

9. Discuss a moment in the novel when the unnamed narrator hints or states outright that she may be an unreliable narrator.

10. What information about the unnamed narrator's romantic life does the reader learn in Italy, 2000?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the effects of stress on the novel's characters and the coping methods each character uses to deal with emotional turmoil. Which characters' methods are effective, which are ineffective, and how do these varying levels of efficiency affect the messages sent by Topics of Conversation within the text?

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Popkey’s messages concerning the nature of security. Does the text indicate that it is dangerous or crucial? Choose one adjective and prove its validity using concrete details from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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