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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. What does Sam remember about her daughter during her first few nights in her new house?

2. What is one reason Sam's husband thinks Sam is leaving him?

3. In Chapter 6, what common expression does Sam come across in a social media discussion that she hates?

4. Why do Ally and her boyfriend keep their relationship secret?

5. What did Clara Loomis use her bedroom as?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 9, how does Sam react to the woman on her porch?

2. What does Sam do in the aftermath of the 2016 election that she has not done for a long while?

3. How does Sam afford the house she buys in Part I?

4. Where does Sam work, and what does she do there?

5. In Chapter 5, why do some of the youngest women at the activist meeting get angry and storm out?

6. Where does Sam end up meeting people she thinks are more like-minded in the realm of activism?

7. How are the house Sam buys and her decision to leave her husband related?

8. What does Spiotta mean when she mentions Sam's "historic house envy" (75)?

9. Why is Clara Loomis problematic as a historical figure?

10. What does Ally immediately think when Sam tells her she and Matt are splitting up?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Spiotta reveal about Sam's character with Sam's reaction to the Aadil Mapunda shooting? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How and why does Sam seem to finally make peace with relinquishing some control over Ally's life? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Spiotta treat the topic of the effects of technology - especially social media and digital images - on relationships throughout this novel? Write an essay explaining your answers. citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 722 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample