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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 Jo say will be necessary to keep the dog alive?

2. Why did Licia give money to Duncan one day?

3. Where does Jo's mother live?

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

5. What name do Dana's sisters call the housemates?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the circumstances in which Jo sees Eli again after so many years?

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

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

4. Who are Jo and Daniel's daughters and how are they different from each other?

5. How do Dana's sisters act when they come to the house to pick up Dana's belongings?

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

7. What does Jo say might account for her feeling off during dinner with Daniel?

8. What do the police learn about each of the housemates that makes the police suspicious of them?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

WHILE I WAS GONE is a classic story of loss and renewal. What does that classification entail? Why does this book fit into this category? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the concept of loneliness as it exhibits in the story. Which of the characters are lonely? Are they all lonely in some way? Explain the loneliness and the methods and attempts to overcome it.

Essay Topic 3

The author uses more than one iteration on the theme of deception. Identify at least two themes about deception in the book. Then cite an example to support each theme you name.

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