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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Vivian go into the hospital at the beginning of Scene 8?
(a) She wants to say hello to Susie.
(b) She was in a car accident.
(c) She has a fever.
(d) She is scheduled for her fifth cycle of chemotherapy.

2. What does Jason call Vivian's condition when he sees her at the beginning of Scene 8?
(a) “Shake and bake.”
(b) “Halfway to Heaven.”
(c) “Road pizza.”
(d) “Attention-seeking.”

3. What word does Kelekian use to refer to Vivian's cancer?
(a) Treacherous.
(b) Rare.
(c) Insidious.
(d) Unstable.

4. What does Vivian say about medical terms in comparison to the words of Donne?
(a) They are less poetic.
(b) They are more weighty.
(c) They are more clinical.
(d) They are less evocative.

5. How does Vivian get to the hospital at the beginning of Scene 8?
(a) She is taken in by an ambulance.
(b) She is driven by a colleague.
(c) She drives herself.
(d) She takes a taxi.

6. What is Vivian's first appointment in Scene 4?
(a) Chest x-ray.
(b) Physical exam.
(c) Blood work.
(d) GI series.

7. What literary device does Vivian reference in her opening monologue?
(a) Alliteration.
(b) Imagery.
(c) Irony.
(d) Exposition.

8. How does Vivian occupy herself while she waits for her physical exam?
(a) She imagines she is giving a lecture.
(b) She sings.
(c) She speculates how her career path would have gone if she had not gotten cancer.
(d) She recites a sonnet by John Donne.

9. What does Susie take with her when she leaves Vivian's room at the end of Scene 5?
(a) The wheelchair.
(b) Vivian's washbasin.
(c) Vivian's hospital bed.
(d) The IV.

10. Who published Vivian's dissertation?
(a) The University Press.
(b) The Journal of English Texts.
(c) The Scholarly Journal of Literature.
(d) Critical Discourse.

11. What false name does Vivian give a technician?
(a) Duke Jasper Fforde.
(b) Kristin Lavransdatter.
(c) Jane Eyre.
(d) Lucy, Countess of Bedford.

12. What percentage of the chemotherapy dose does Vivian have to take?
(a) 100%.
(b) 25%.
(c) It will vary based on the cycle number.
(d) 85%.

13. How would Vivian tell her students to think of her situation?
(a) As a puzzle.
(b) As wit.
(c) As irony.
(d) As allusion.

14. When does Scene 6 open?
(a) Friday morning.
(b) Saturday evening.
(c) Monday morning.
(d) Thursday afternoon.

15. What does Vivian do after meeting with Ashford?
(a) Go back to the library.
(b) Go outside.
(c) Read it again.
(d) Do the paper over.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long does each cycle take to complete?

2. What source does Gardner's translation use for the sonnets?

3. How long does Vivian say the attention of chemotherapy was flattering?

4. How does Vivian think her colleagues would honor her memory?

5. How does Vivian connect her new word with the story she is reading?

(see the answer keys)

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