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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. Why does Chloe refuse to share anything about how Cassie died?

2. For how long was Cassie in the motel room before she died?

3. What does Lia do despite her stomach pain?

4. What does Chloe want of Lia?

5. What is the text for three pages in this section?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Lia's father take Lia after picking her up from the hospital and why can her mother get reports from the psychiatrist?

2. What does Lia tell her father when she's returned from Elijah's house and how does he react?

3. What does Jennifer say to Lia that prompts Lia to really talk to Dr. Parker?

4. What happens when Lia goes to get pain medication for Emma?

5. How does Lia act at Cassie's grave?

6. What does Lia think about concerning Cassie as Lia Googles Cassie's name?

7. How does Lia experience the emergency room?

8. How much does Lia weigh and what does she think about the weight spiral?

9. What happens when Lia is selling the baked goods at the band concert?

10. Why does Cassie's ghost call Lia a "wintergirl"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

At the movie theater, Lia cuts her hips with a razorblade, another form of self-mutilation. Cutting is a different type of pain than starvation. It is immediate, and many cutters feel the need to self-harm when faced with extremely painful emotion. Because they cannot control the emotional pain, they feel the need to control their physical pain, creating a physical outlet for what is happening inside them. Clearly, this is what is happening with Lia. The visit to the motel had a profound emotional effect on her but she does not have the coping skills to deal with her grief. She is too controlled to cry or ask for help so her pain needs a different outlet: a physical one.

1. Explain what you think are the reasons that Lia cuts herself. Use examples from your own life and "Wintergirls" to support your reasoning.

2. Do you think it is always necessary to control emotional pain? Why or why not? Use examples from your own life and "Wintergirls" to support your reasoning.

3. What do you think are some of the coping skills a teenager might use to deal with emotional pain? Use examples from your own life and "Wintergirls" to support your reasoning.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,507 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample