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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. Whom do Dana's sisters blame for Dana's death?

2. What does Jo explain to the person who brings the dog to the office?

3. Which of the following is NOT information the police consider to be suspicious?

4. What do Licia, Sara, Eli, and Larry have for a Christmas night celebration?

5. How does Jo know the person in #18?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Dana, and how does Licia (Jo) meet her?

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

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

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

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

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

7. What are Jo's feelings about seeing Eli again?

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

9. Describe the night when Licia finds Dana's dead body in the house.

10. What does Dana's murder signify for the housemates?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Miller's writing style. How is she different from other writers of her time? What are some of her characteristic writing techniques? Identify some examples of her classic style in WHILE I WAS GONE.

Essay Topic 2

Jo spends some alone time throughout the novel to contemplate her life. What does she think about? What conclusions does she arrive at? Explain why she is in a contemplative mood at this point in time.

Essay Topic 3

What do you think Jo is really searching for in her life? Why is she always dissatisfied with the state of her life? What would really make Jo happy? Why was the happiest time in Jo's life a time when she was living with an alias?

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