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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. Where does Irene want to live?

2. When Sarah Jane asks Lisa where she got all the videos, what does Lisa say?

3. Why is Irene surprised when she attends a church in Council Bluffs?

4. How long has it been from the time Jeremy starts his new job in Part Three to when he visited Lisa's farmhouse shed?

5. What does Steve add to his journal in Part Three, Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Irene view Peter Sample's courtship? What brings her to marry Peter, even though internally she has reservations?

2. Using the quote, "...when she'd [Irene] gave no indication that anything unusual had happened or was about to happen or would continue happening without interruption in the days to follow" (127), what might the reader assume about Irene's disappearance?

3. When Irene leaves Bible study early and tells Peter it is because the others did not like the question she is asking, what sort of questions is Irene most likely asking that are controversial?

4. How and why does Sarah Jane justify not providing Jeremy access to the phone at the farmhouse after Ezra's accident?

5. What are some of the first signs that Irene is taking her new church very seriously, and that it may be beginning to take over her life?

6. Why is Sarah Jane truly concerned about Ezra's car accident?

7. In Part Three, Chapter 1, what are the two versions of where Irene may be according to the narrator? How do the different stories leave out any definite information?

8. How does Lisa explain her reasoning to Sarah Jane for taking the videos and adding the scenes into the movies?

9. In what ways is Irene's new married life in Crescent different from when she lived in Tama? How does the move emotionally affect her?

10. Why does Jeremy relate a weekend in Vegas to what happens to him at Lisa house in Part Three, Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lisa Sample's mother, Irene, has doubts about moving to Crescent with her new husband, Peter, at the start of Part Two, Chapter 1. Irene has a difficult time living away from her parents and making friends in this foreign setting. How do you know that Irene is not happy with their move? Why does Irene feel so homesick? What changes take place in Crescent that substantiate her despair?

Essay Topic 2

Part Three, Chapter 1 catalogues Ezra's car accident near Collins near Lisa Sample's farmhouse. Sarah Jane reacts peculiarly when Jeremy recounts how he found Ezra's car crashed on the side of the road. Sarah Jane insists they return the site, but does not tell Jeremy why. Why does Sarah Jane want to go back to the scene? What does Sarah Jane immediately do when they arrive at the site? How does Sarah Jane's behavior reflect her relationship with Lisa and Sarah Jane's need to revisit the scene?

Essay Topic 3

Part Three, Chapter 4 is set in the future and casts Jeremy as a worker who is rebuilding a shed. His co-worker is surprised that Jeremy knows so much about old sheds and how they are made. Jeremy's memories of being at Lisa Sample’s years before overtake him, and new discoveries are presented through this experience. What does Jeremy explain about his experience at Lisa's house? How do his understandings and revealings relate to Jeremy's growth and change of character from past to present?

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