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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 building does Sam think is especially beautiful near her new neighborhood?

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

3. What does Sam find unusual about Laci's friend's living situation?

4. What does Sam's husband do as soon as she tells him she is leaving him?

5. What book does Ally's boyfriend give her that Sam is alarmed about?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Matt seem to think Sam's decision to leave him might really be mostly about?

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

3. What does Sam think of MH when she first meets her?

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

5. What does Sam do to try to keep in touch with Ally?

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

7. In Chapter 6, what does Matt ask Sam to do regarding their daughter Ally?

8. What happens when Sam goes to a community meeting in her new neighborhood?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does the missing tile after the break-in at Sam's new house bother her so much? What does the tile - and the house itself - symbolize to Sam? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Why do you think Spiotta waits until well into the novel to reveal the extent of Lily's illness and its true effect on Sam? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think Spiotta chooses to switch her main narrative focus between Sam and Ally at different points throughout the novel, and what effect does this variation have on the reader? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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