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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. How is Lia when she first enters the emergency room?

2. What does Chloe fear about Lia?

3. Why does Lia agree to call Chloe?

4. Who picks Lia up at the hospital?

5. What does Lia do to distract her mother?

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. Who does Lia encounter at Cassie's burial and how does that let Elijah learn Lia's real name?

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

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

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

6. What does Lia want to know about Cassie and what does she have to do to gain the knowledge?

7. Describe the damage to Cassie's body as a result of her eating disorder.

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

9. Where does Lia sometimes find herself in the middle of the night?

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

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

Titles often play a vital role in making a person decide to read a particular book. Discuss the following:

1. Fully explain why you think "Wintergirls" is titled as such. Do you think it is the best title for the book? Why or why not? Can you think of a better title? Why would you choose it?

2. How important is a title in influencing you to consider reading a book? Explain your answer.

3. Do you think a title needs to have direct relevance to a book's content? Explain your answer.

4. Have you ever read a book that when you finished, you do not understand the relevance of the title? Does it discourage you from "trusting" that particular author again?

Essay Topic 3

Often, authors will write about "what they know," and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting. Discuss the following:

1. Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Laurie Halse Anderson.

2. What in Anderson's background may have helped her in writing "Wintergirls"? What may have influenced the way she depicts various characters and scenes?

3. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples.

(see the answer keys)

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