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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. Lizzie and Mrs. Kovinski begin to avoid one another after Lizze says that she will no longer listen to what kind of speech from Mrs. Kovinski?

2. Catherine always arrives home to greet Henry and Iris at what time of the evening?

3. In what type of train car do Eli, Ben, and Lizzie travel to Washington, D.C. in Chapter Three?

4. Lizzie recalls in Chapter Four Henry's concern about whether he could walk how many miles with his own child on his back?

5. Lizzie describes her texts with which character as "scrupulously chaste" (185)?

Short Essay Questions

1. To which historical event does Lizzie compare the U.S. presidential election of 2016 and why?

2. Explain the significance of Lizzie's claim at the end of Chapter Four that she has "so many people" (192).

3. How does Sylvia react when Lizzie shares her plans for creating a 'doomstead' for her family someday?

4. In what way does Offill use the character of Lorraine to demonstrate the frustration felt by many Americans in the wake of the 2016 election?

5. For what reason are Ben and Will away from home for three weeks during Chapter Four?

6. What political event has just occurred when Chapter Three begins?

7. For what reason does Offill allude to C.S. Lewis's novel Prince Caspian in Chapter Four?

8. What purpose does Offill have in mind when including the detail that Catherine always gets home from work at seven in the evening?

9. What is "milling" (129) in the context of the field called Disaster Psychology?

10. How does Ben feel about the results of the election and how does Offill provide this information to the reader?

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

Trace the characterization arc of Lizzie’s character throughout the novel Weather: A Novel. Discuss whether Lizzie is a round or flat character and whether she is a static or dynamic character.

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