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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 is the main reason during the Christmas vacation of 1985 that Laura is looking forward to school starting again?

2. How old are the Canadian males with whom 13-year-old Laura and Donna bathe in the forest stream?

3. Laura says she thinks life would be easier if one thing were different about the world. What does she think would make life so much easier?

4. When Laura tries on Maddy's nice clothes, who does Maddy say Laura resembles?

5. What is NOT one false thing Laura tells the reader that people say about her?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Donna and Laura leave the guys by the fire in order to relieve themselves, they get really scared. What are they scared of?

2. What is the significance of Laura and Maddy's attempts to block the light coming from the house windows into their fort?

3. What reason does Laura give for feeling sorry for Audrey Horne?

4. What is the significance of the moment when Donna finally shares her sexual fantasies with Laura?

5. How does Laura feel when she tries smoking for the first time?

6. What prompts Laura to proclaim that she is not sure that the Log Lady had been talking about the right Laura Palmer when she had predicted a happy life?

7. Discuss the meaning of the very first poem Laura writes within her diary on July 29, 1984.

8. What do stuffed animals symbolize within the first diary entry?

9. When Laura decides to be a better person during Maddy's visit, what does Laura state is her plan for achieving this goal?

10. How is foreshadowing used within the scene of Laura receiving a pony for her birthday and checking the pony's gender?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Perform a psychoanalytical criticism of the novel, grounding your analysis in Laura's writings within her diary. Include quotes from both the novel and from scholarly sources focused on psychoanalytical techniques.

Essay Topic 2

In what ways is Laura's character a walking paradox, particularly by the conclusion of the novel? What are these paradoxical qualities enlisted in order to express a particular message about the human condition and what is that message? Prove your claim with textual evidence from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

How is the theme of escapism demonstrated within the novel's narrative and what is the author communicating to the reader about this topic? Provide concrete details from the novel to support your claim.

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