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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. What has the family not mastered, which is why the young girl is sent out on her quest, a common one for the time period?

2. What has the man hoped to find when he ended up finding the remains of the Skeleton Woman instead?

3. The sister that stays with the man is endangered by the __________ of the man, not by the strange feature he has.

4. Who caused the Skeleton Woman to brutally suffer during the course of her life?

5. What is the quest the girl is sent off to complete in order to hopefully perish if the stepfamily has anything to say about it?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is peculiar about the man who is the focal point of the first story in this section?

2. What are some of the ways in which Estes believes that women's bodies have been attacked?

3. What happened between the father of the Skeleton Woman and the women herself?

4. What do the mother and the duckling both want for the duckling in its life?

5. Why does the young girl receive the doll in the first story from her mother?

6. What is the rumor that goes around about the man with the strange appearance?

7. What does Estes suggest about the female body and what it might be capable of doing?

8. What do the others do when it's clear that one of the eggs in a bunch is not the same as the others?

9. How does the duckling come to find out that he is actually a swan rather than being like his brothers and sisters?

10. What happens after the duckling decides to run away from his family? How is he saved?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author points out that women experience pain from having had bad experiences and this is what causes a woman to strive to change.

Part 1: Do you think pain always leads to a change in a person? Why or why not?

Part 2: Do you think a person needs to suffer in order to learn certain lessons? Why or why not?

Part 3: Do you feel that in your life you've had to feel pain in order to grow or to change into a better person? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

In many stories, there is the emergence of a powerful guide, someone who can help the main character begin to know themselves better and to be stronger.

Part 1: Why do you think so many stories include some sort of guide for the main figure?

Part 2: Do you think it's always necessary to have a guide in one's life in order to move forward? Why or why not?

Part 3: How do you think Vasilisa would have done if she had not had the doll at her side?

Essay Topic 3

The author speaks of a deep healing when it comes to the woman who seeks to rediscover herself.

Part 1: Do you think that everyone is in need of healing on some level? Why or why not?

Part 2: How do you think a woman is able to reclaim herself? What steps might she need to take?

Part 3: Do you think it's possible fora woman to reclaim herself and not have the help of others? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 800 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample