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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 enjoys the fact that Will does not mind if she talks endlessly about what subject?

2. Lizzie recalls pleading with Henry not to seek help with his addiction at what type of facility?

3. How many times do Henry and Lizzie circle the neighborhood before Henry tells Lizzie what is bothering him in Chapter Three?

4. Eli gets upset when his friend at school talks about taking what action against the new U.S. president?

5. Lizzie officially meets the handsome man from the bus when they run into one another in what location?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what kind of dwelling do Ben and Catherine live and what is the significance of this fact?

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

3. Who asks Lizzie to name her fears in Chapter Four and what three elements of life does she name?

4. Describe two incidents that demonstrate Lizzie's concern about the growing feelings of hate in the wake of Trump's election.

5. Discuss an instance when Offill uses a literary device to illustrate some aspect of the sibling relationship between Ben and Lizzie.

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

7. What solution does Lizzie devise in response to Henry's problem, as revealed in Chapter Six?

8. In what way does the motif of dreams arise within Chapter Four in order to again demonstrate the strong connection between Henry and Lizzie?

9. Describe the therapeutic exercises that Margot prescribes for Henry.

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Offill’s use of metaphor, simile, imagery, and other literary devices as a means to send particular thematic messages within the narrative of Weather: A Novel.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the ways in which the themes of adaptability and resignation appear within Offill’s novel Weather: A Novel. What message is Offill sending about these two themes over the course of the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,113 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample