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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. Where does Lia take Emma after school?

2. What does Elijah ask Lia that makes her panic?

3. What does Elijah say about Cassie?

4. What does Lia read online after her visitor(s) leave(s)?

5. What does Lia ensure splatters all over the microwave?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Jennifer feel about Cassie's death?

2. What does Lia feel when she wakes the next morning?

3. How do Lia and Cassie first meet?

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

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

6. Over what does Lia obsess after Jennifer and Emma leave the house?

7. What news does Emma bring the next morning, and what is Lia's reaction?

8. What does Lia feel as she thinks about Cassie's body in the morgue?

9. What have Lia's teachers organized and how does Lia react when she joins the group of students?

10. Who calls Lia before she leaves for school after she has weighed herself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. Who is/are the protagonists of the story and why?

2. Who is/are the antagonists of the story and why?

3. Which 3 secondary characters have the greatest impact on the plot?

4. Are any of the characters dispensable and which ones? Why or why not?

5. Do you think this is a character-driven plot or an action-driven plot? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

There are a number of interesting questions raised by "Wintergirls". Questions that Anderson most likely want readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Anderson' agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book, and then discuss Anderson' probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

4. Research the life of Anderson and see if/where his life may have influenced his writing.

Essay Topic 3

Sometimes a book has more of a character-driven plot rather than action driven, and sometimes it is the other way. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven? Action driven?

2. How do you think a plot differs if it is character driven versus action driven?

3. Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why?

4. Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character development share equal time? Why or why not.

5. What type of plot do you think "Wintergirls" is? Explain your response.

(see the answer keys)

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