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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 activity takes up most of Sam's daughter's time besides school?

2. What city does Sam live in?

3. In Chapter 4, what does Sam accuse her husband of doing to her?

4. In Chapter 12, what does Sam's husband update her about regarding Ally?

5. In Chapter 15, what happens that upsets Sam?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 14, what does Matt do for Sam that makes it harder for her to be angry with him?

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

3. In Chapter 13, what does Sam really think of the brutal college admissions competition?

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

5. What is Matt's first reaction when Sam tells him she is leaving him?

6. What is one way, as Spiotta puts it, to understand what happens to Sam in Part I in terms of the upheaval in her life?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing Spiotta's style and tone throughout this novel, 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

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.

(see the answer keys)

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