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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. How often during his waking hours does Henry text Lizzie once Catherine is approaching her due date?

2. What was Catherine's drug of choice before she got sober?

3. Chapter One of the novel takes place on the cusp of which two seasons?

4. Chapter Two of Weather: A Novel opens on which holiday?

5. What is NOT an action Ben takes on Lizzie's birthday?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Henry go when he loses his apartment in Chapter One?

2. Discuss an instance when the motif of dreams enters the narrative of Chapter Two.

3. How do most students' expectations of meditation class differ from what Margot provides?

4. For what reason does Lizzie go on fewer trips with Sylvia in the summer?

5. Characterize the relationship between Lizzie and her brother Henry.

6. Describe Sylvia's penchant for visiting sites with particular qualities.

7. For what reason does Offill include Mohan's opinions about the upcoming election in Chapter Two?

8. Discuss the demographics of Eli's school and how Lizzie feels about them.

9. What is Hell and High Water and how does Lizzie get involved with it?

10. What is the significance of William Derham's 1711 quote, when viewed in the context of Sylvia's hope for the future?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Offill's choice to tell the story of Weather: A Novel using the first person point of view from Lizzie’s perspective. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Offill’s intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Offill begins the text with an excerpt from a 17th-century town meeting in a small Connecticut settlement. Explain how this poem excerpt relates to Weather: A Novel and how it reflects the text’s themes.

Essay Topic 3

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Offill’s novel Weather: A Novel. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

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