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

2. The unnamed narrator's boyfriend in the summer of 2000 used to be her what?

3. The unnamed narrator recalls wondering "what it would feel like to push" which character "over the edge" (60) of the abyss?

4. In what discipline was the PhD that the unnamed narrator never finished?

5. What element does the unnamed narrator NOT include within her definition of female pain?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 2

How are the topics of romantic relationships, love, and sex treated within the novel Topics of Conversation and how does their treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?

Essay Topic 3

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

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