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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 does Paudi believe is true about Hector?

2. What is the name of the bar where Doran is drinking in the beginning of "Kindly Forget My Existence"?

3. What offends Paudi about his brother's personal grooming?

4. Who is Usula?

5. How did the "Diamonds" narrator's cat die?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Siobhán Maher, and how does she recognize the narrator of "Diamonds"?

2. What happened on the band's tour that caused Doran to leave the band?

3. What does Arm think, in retrospect, about the events at the uncles' farm?

4. What do the narrator and Siobhán see as they are driving down the quay road, and what is Siobhán's reaction?

5. What made Eli and Maryanne's marriage a disaster?

6. What does Paudi do to Dympna, and what is Arm's reaction?

7. What is Hector and Paudi's response to the situation with Fannigan?

8. How do Eli, Doran, and Maryanne know one another?

9. When Arm finally gets what he wants from Maire Mirkin, what is ironic about the situation?

10. What does Arm believe is his parents' only real flaw, and why does he think they have this flaw?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In "Stand Your Skin," Bat turns to alcohol as an escape from his circumstances. Throughout Young Skins, characters use alcohol in ways that create problems for them; is this what Bat is doing, or given his limited opportunities to create a better life for himself, is his drinking a logical response? Does Barrett mean to simply condemn the drinking culture of small-town Ireland, or do the stories reveal a more nuanced reaction to it? Write an essay that places Bat's drinking into the context of the anthology as a whole and uses Bat's situation to illuminate the anthology's perspective on the drinking culture of rural Ireland.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that affirms, refutes, or qualifies the following statement: "Young Skins identifies college as a gatekeeping institution that undermines the Irish value of egalitarianism." Use textual evidence from at least two stories in the anthology to support your claims.

Essay Topic 3

What role does prejudice play in the lives of characters in Young Skins? Consider the rumors about Sarah Dignan's ancestry, the way that disabilities are treated, the way the Devers family is treated, Doran's reaction to Dukic, and so on. Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about prejudice as a thematic motif in the collection, supporting your ideas with textual evidence from throughout the anthology.

(see the answer keys)

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