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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 do the Winters do when they discover where Norah sleeps at night?
(a) They try to rescue Norah.
(b) They drive aimlessly throughout the city.
(c) They go to church to pray.
(d) They tour the hostel.

2. What is the name of the hostel Reta writes a check to each month?
(a) Pillars Hostel.
(b) Peace Hostel.
(c) Passage Hostel.
(d) Promise Hostel.

3. Why does Norah enroll at the University of Toronto?
(a) To get away from her family.
(b) To get away from her boyfriend.
(c) To live with her boyfriend.
(d) To be closer to her family.

4. What kind of world is Reta interested in creating for her characters?
(a) A nonfictional but believable world.
(b) A fictional but believable world.
(c) A fictional but unbelievable world.
(d) A nonfictional but unbelievable world.

5. What kind of woman does Reta realize she cannot create for a heroine in her novel?
(a) An imperfect woman.
(b) A trustworthy woman.
(c) A perfect woman.
(d) An evil woman.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Reta bring Norah on the way to her appointment to have her eyebrows tinted?

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

3. Who does Reta meet for lunch after a radio interview in Baltimore?

4. Why does Reta also chide Valkner about his article "The History of Dictionaries"?

5. According to Reta, what is the most important aspect in her life?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are Reta's feelings about sex related to her writing about Alicia and Roman?

2. Describe Norah's thoughts about the two main characters in her novel, and why they are significant.

3. Why does Reta feel that normalcy is "monstrous?"

4. When does Reta's mind begin to wander and what does she think of during dinner with Tom's physicist friend, Colin Glass?

5. Describe Reta's feelings about the formation of her inner dialogue, the "longest conversation" that goes on in a lifetime in a person's mind.

6. How does Reta respond to the death of Mr. Scribano and how is it significant?

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

8. Why does Reta view her trip to the library as a way of reconnecting with Norah?

9. Why does Arthur love Alicia as a character and why is it significant?

10. How does the American election results in Florida that Tom, Christine, and Natalie watch relate to Norah's absence?

(see the answer keys)

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