View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. During lunch, why is Danielle disappointed with Reta's decision to write another novel?
(a) Because she considers writing fiction a trivial pursuit.
(b) Because she thinks Reta's first novel wasn't very good.
(c) Because she wants Reta to translate another one of her books.
(d) Because she wants Reta to focus on rescuing Norah.

2. In Reta's letter to Ford-Halpern, what is "an endless series of obstacles, an alignment of locked doors"?
(a) Reta's mind.
(b) Danielle's obstacles.
(c) Emma's loss.
(d) Norah's world.

3. What date does Arthur Springer agree to meet with Reta in 2001?
(a) January 19th.
(b) January 30th.
(c) January 4th.
(d) January 2nd.

4. Who tells Reta and Tom that "Vagrancy can be thoughtful or careless; she has chosen the latter"?
(a) Danielle Westerman.
(b) A psychiatrist.
(c) Ben Abbot.
(d) Norah's professor.

5. What is the short story writer's name who Reta writes a letter to?
(a) Richard Smiley.
(b) Russell Sandor.
(c) Robert Spiller.
(d) Renee Simon.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Reta, what is "full of isolated events"?

2. What does Norah use to try and put out the flames from the woman's fire?

3. According to Lois, what year did her husband die?

4. Why is Reta alarmed by the sight of Norah's hands?

5. In her letter about the obituary in the Globe and Mail, what does Reta state she has missed out on?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Reta call Dennis Ford-Halpern's omission of women in his book "The Goodness Gap" a "moral dilemma in itself"?

2. At the hospital, what does Natalie reveal about the injuries to Norah's hands?

3. What is Reta's impression of Arthur Springer when she finally meets him at her home in January and how do they get into a heated discussion?

4. Why does an older friend of Reta's advise her to read obituaries as a young writer?

5. According to Reta, why is goodness not a guaranteed virtue?

6. As Reta and Arthur have their heated discussion, what three things happen that interrupt them that provide comic relief to the serious conversation?

7. What is Reta's central point in her letter to Helt?

8. At the end of the novel, what do we learn about the reason for Norah's disappearance and subsequent homelessness?

9. In her letter to Russell Sandor, Reta states that she fears nothing. Why does she feel this way and how does she prove it in her letter?

10. In her letter about the death of Peter Harding, how does Reta compare herself to Norah?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 784 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample