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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 Lia obsess over after breakfast?

2. Where does Lia go during the school day for a while?

3. What does Lia feel like doing when she looks at Cassie in the coffin?

4. How does Cassie describe herself to Lia?

5. What does Lia have after eating a little fruit and nuts?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lia do against the advice of her parents and what does Lia keep imagining?

2. What does Emma confess to Lia when Lia takes her to soccer practice, and how does Lia respond?

3. What does Lia do after dinner and when her father comes in to her bedroom?

4. What does Lia go read on her computer after the detectives leave?

5. How does Lia get out of going to school that morning and where does she go?

6. Why does Elijah escort Lia out of the funeral home and where do they go?

7. How does Lia act at mealtime to make it appear that she's eating more than she is?

8. What does Cassie say to Lia in the messages Cassie leaves on Lia's phone?

9. How do Lia and Cassie first meet?

10. Describe Lia's experience as she sees Cassie in the coffin.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in this book. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of guilt in the book. Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to feel guilty for his/her actions? Why?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of control in "Wintergirls". Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to need control? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Even at the support group meeting at school, Lia cannot process what has happened to her friend. Even though Cassie was her best friend, Lia has no suggestions for ways in which Cassie could be remembered. When she looks around at her fellow classmates, Lia doesn't understand how they get up each day, eat their food, go to their classes. To Lia, going to school is like going to the cafeteria. Teachers inject them with information. Parents divide the day into "healthy ingredients" like sports, community service, art. In school, teachers control your day and grade you on your performance. Lia's metaphor for school is related back to food because this is how she exercises her own control. She hates school for the same reasons that she hates eating: it takes away the fierce control she has over every single aspect of her life. Because she is too busy controlling her own actions, Lia doesn't care about the actions of others, even when those actions relate to her best friend's memorial. Lia simply doesn't have enough energy.

1. Discuss the ways in which Lia thinks she is different from all the other students at school. Use examples from your own life and "Wintergirls" to support your reasoning.

2. Discuss events and situations which are beyond a teenager's control and why they might be that way. Use examples from your own life and "Wintergirls" to support your reasoning.

3. If Lia wanted to exercise control in her life in a healthy manner, what do you think are some of the ways she could do that? Use examples from your own life and "Wintergirls" to support your reasoning.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the following:

1. What is a plot? What are the most important elements of a plot and their definition? Do all novels have a plot? Why or why not?

2. Write a brief synopsis of the plot of "Wintergirls", identifying where the various elements of the plot occur (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Do you find it difficult to identify the plot? Why or why not? What about the various elements of the plot?

3. Identify the major sub-plots and their elements in "Wintergirls". (The subplots may not contain every element of a major plot). Do the sub-plots add to the main plot? Why or why not. Are the sub-plots interesting in and of themselves? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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