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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 Lia decide to walk to school?

2. Why does Lia wake in the middle of the night?

3. What does Chloe want of Lia?

4. Of what does Lia convince herself?

5. What does Lia sometimes find in her hand in the middle of the night?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Lia do that causes Emma to become hysterical?

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

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

5. What happens as a result of Lia eating the cupcakes?

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

7. When is Lia allowed to go home and what does she feel is humorous about the situation?

8. What does Lia remember when she passes Cassie's house on her way to her mother's home?

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

10. What does Jennifer ask Lia to do and how does Lia respond?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Many novels, and perhaps a majority, of novels ends on a happy note. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think many (most?) people want what they perceive as a happy or good ending to a novel? Explain your opinion. Do you? Why or why not?

2. What are three reasons to read fiction? Discuss each one in light of "Wintergirls" and whether or not it fulfills all three, two or one of the reasons you mention. Give examples as to why "Wintergirls" is or is not successful in fulfilling the reasons you discuss.

3. Do you think reading solely for entertainment is as good a reason to read as any other? Why or why not? Can any work of fiction or non-fiction, no matter how poorly written, enlighten, teach, stimulate thought? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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