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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. At the end of the section entitled San Francisco 2010, the unnamed narrator recalls having forgotten that her dark-haired friend had eyes of what color?

2. Into what type of receptacle did the unnamed narrator urinate in an expression of anger toward John?

3. The final sentence of Ann Arbor, 2002 describes the unnamed narrator's plan to take what action when she gets home?

4. What did the artist do to protest the custody arrangements that had been handed down by the court?

5. In what city do the unnamed narrator's parents live in the house where they raised their daughter?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What was the outcome of the tenant's story in the section entitled Ann Arbor, 2002?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the ways in which the themes of adaptability and resignation appear within Popkey’s novel Topics of Conversation. What message is Popkey sending about these two themes over the course of the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Trace the characterization arc of the unnamed narrator's character throughout the novel Topics of Conversation. Discuss whether she is a round or flat character and whether she is a static or dynamic character.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Popkey's purpose for juxtaposing at least two different locations in a particular way within the text of Topics of Conversation.

(see the answer keys)

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