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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 does the police officer initially speculate about Dana's murder?

2. How did Licia let her husband and mother know that she was okay?

3. Licia, Larry, and Sara stay at Larry's parents' home in ______________ for the night.

4. How many people live in the group house?

5. Why does Jo go to the attic when she gets home in the evening?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Jo and Daniel reconnect and then marry?

2. What happens to the dynamics in the group house after Dana's death?

3. Why is marrying Daniel quite opposite from the life she had been living in the group house?

4. Why does Licia seem to fit in so well with the group members who seem to have no real plans?

5. What choice does Eli make for his dog and for himself in Jo's office?

6. Explain Jo's secretive life in Cambridge in 1968.

7. How did Jo get her start in veterinary medicine?

8. How does Jo confuse Jean Bennett when telling her how Jo knows Jean's husband, Eli Mayhew?

9. What are the circumstances in which Jo meets Daniel?

10. What was the nature of the relationship between Licia and Dana?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the major settings for the novel. Why does Miller use those settings? What is the time period of the story? How important is the time period to the attitudes and issues of the characters?

Essay Topic 2

Project into the future ten years after the end of the novel and write a brief synopsis for the lives of Jo and three other characters. Be sure to incorporate personal, political, and cultural impacts on the characters' lives.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the role of the family in WHILE I WAS GONE. What does it mean for each of the main characters? How does the family evolve in its support of each other?

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