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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Reta want to demonstrate when she and Tom visit Ben after Norah's sudden disappearance?
(a) Her disapproval of Ben.
(b) Her disapproval of Norah.
(c) Her approval of Ben.
(d) Her approval of Norah.

2. How does Reta describe her sexual relationship with Tom?
(a) As dull and infrequent.
(b) As familiar and a safe routine.
(c) As exciting and unpredictable.
(d) As uncomfortable and unpleasant.

3. What do Tom and the girls see as a contradiction about the American event they are fixated on?
(a) They see the Indy 500 as a contradiction to public concern for safety.
(b) They see the election results in Florida as a contradiction to the checks and balances system in the constitution.
(c) They see the presidential speech as a contradiction to the realities of the Iraq war.
(d) They see the Kentucky Derby as a contradiction to government regulation of gambling.

4. What problem does Reta initially attribute Norah's disappearance to when she first goes missing?
(a) Norah's relationship with her sisters.
(b) Norah's relationship with her father.
(c) Norah's relationship with her boyfriend.
(d) Norah's relationship with Reta.

5. Why does Reta decide not to attend the funeral for the person at Scribano & Lawrence?
(a) Because Reta cannot handle more grief.
(b) Because Reta does not know the person who died very well.
(c) Because Reta is going to see Norah instead.
(d) Because Reta thinks the person who died was not good.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Reta reveal about the first time she met Tom?

2. What is the subject of the new book Tom is reading?

3. How old does Christine, Reta's daughter, turn in October?

4. What is the name of Reta's friend, a medical journalist who lives in Newfoundland?

5. How does Reta approach Norah when she visits her in early November?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Reta reluctant to give Arthur Springer a first draft of her novel, and what does it reveal about her writing?

2. What is Reta's complaint in her letter to the editor of a literary magazine regarding one of its advertising pages?

3. How do Natalie and Christine attempt to give the impression that Norah's absence is part of a normal routine?

4. Describe the response of the Winters' family to seeing the hostel where Norah stays and its significance.

5. Describe life in the Winters' household.

6. Why do Reta and her writer friends at the Orange Blossom Room conclude that the concepts of goodness and greatness are incompatible for women?

7. What are some concerns Reta has in creating her fictional character Alicia, and how are they significant?

8. What are Reta's feelings about Tom and their sexual relationship?

9. During Norah's visit from university the previous year, Reta states that she knew how "wildly out control" Norah was, how "she'd become dangerous to her own being." Describe why Reta comes to this conclusion.

10. What does Reta do each month that indicates her attempt to live up to an idea of "goodness?"

(see the answer keys)

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