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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 of the following did Ann NOT do for Lucy in the hospital?

2. In their last conversation, how often did Ann and Lucy agree to talk to each other?

3. What was the plastic surgeon in Nashville unable to do for Lucy?

4. What type of courses did Lucy get accepted in but never attended?

5. What ground rules did Ann set down for Lucy while she was staying at Ann's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of help did Lucy seek for her addictions, and how did she lie about what she was really doing?

2. What did Ann find especially alarming when Lucy read an essay at a Provincetown reading?

3. What was Lucy's first suicide attempt, and how did she try to convince Ann that her life was better?

4. What was the content of Ann and Lucy's last phone conversation?

5. What was the final defeat in Lucy's struggle to have her face reconstructed?

6. Why did Ann not tell Lucy she was coming to New York for a movie premiere and book party?

7. Why was Lucy so pleased when Ann began to date a doctor in Nashville?

8. How well did Lucy manage her finances?

9. Why was Ann the symbol of innocence in the book and Lucy the loss of innocence?

10. To what things did Ann attribute Lucy's depression?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

It has been said that creative people such as writers and artists have some degree of mental illness which makes their work brilliant. Explain whether or not you think mental illness shaped Lucy's life and work.

Essay Topic 2

Lucy Grealy was no stranger to hurt and pain. From what you know of Lucy's life through this book, what were her biggest sorrows and worst betrayals? How did she manage through them? How did her coping skills evidence themselves in many aspects of her life? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Ann Patchett's writing style. How is she different from other writers of her time? What are some of her characteristic writing techniques? Identify some examples of her classic style in TRUTH & BEAUTY.

(see the answer keys)

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