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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. When Laura writes that "temporary happiness is better than" (90) something on the way to the drug dealer's house, what does she say is worse than temporary happiness?

2. When Laura writes that "darkness in sex is okay, as long as it is strange, mysterious darkness," (116) what does she say is the kind of darkness that she does not enjoy?

3. When Laura gets nervous around all of the guns inside the drug dealer's house, where does she go?

4. When it proves too cold for Laura to write her fantasy down in the diary outside, where does she go to write instead?

5. Who does Laura say is the only girl besides Donna whom she has seen naked?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the list of 40 sets of initials within Laura's diary?

2. What action does Laura finally take when she is desperate to stop her cocaine withdrawals?

3. How does BOB know the details of the orgy that Laura attended?

4. What is the source of Laura's belief that she fits in with a much older crowd at that party she attends with people who are all eight to ten years her senior?

5. What is Laura's relationship with Johnny?

6. How do Bobby and Laura spend New Year's Eve of 1987?

7. When Bobby asks Laura on New Year's Eve if she thinks that cocaine is a problem for her, what is her reply?

8. What retort does BOB give to Laura's idea to call the police and tell them about the abuse BOB is inflicting on her?

9. How does Laura feel about the way in which she escaped the dangerous situation after being kidnapped by three truckers on the highway?

10. What types of pictures in Fleshworld magazine bother Laura?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

How does the reader's uncertainty about the true identity of Laura's abuser referred to as BOB ensure that Laura, the victim, will be the focal point of the story, rather than the abuser? How is this choice by the author a radical one and what message is it sending about the roles of abuser and abused within society? Prove your claims with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Write a persuasive essay that argues either for or against the use of The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer in high school classrooms. Support your argument using logical reasoning, poignant examples of modern teenage life, and concrete details from the novel's narrative.

(see the answer keys)

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