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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Josephine give Phillip on the day he leaves?
(a) A check and a letter of introduction for an apartment.
(b) A check and a new car.
(c) A check and a bus ticket.
(d) A train ticket and a lunch basket.

2. Father and Mother met in what city?
(a) Thornton.
(b) Nashville.
(c) Atlanta.
(d) New York.

3. How do Betsy and Josephine refer to the women Mr. Carver begins dating after he dates older women?
(a) "Floozies."
(b) "Youngish women."
(c) "Gold diggers."
(d) "Opportunists."

4. How old is Phillip when he first meets Clara?
(a) 30.
(b) 20.
(c) 23.
(d) 45.

5. Who does Phillip believe his sister Betsy is going to the bars with while watching her father?
(a) No one.
(b) A friend from work.
(c) Her new fiance.
(d) Howard.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what car does Betsy ride during the family's move to Memphis?

2. Why does Phillip believe his father goes to the same nightclubs as his daughters?

3. In what year does the relationship between Clara and Phillip end?

4. Within a few weeks of meeting Clara, where does Phillip begin spending his Saturday nights?

5. Where is Phillip's mother born and raised?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 4, Alex also meets Mr. Carver. Where do the two meet, and what brings them together? How does their relationship grow during the course of the chapter?

2. As Chapter 1 opens, Phillip is alone in the apartment he shares with Holly Kaplan. Why is this the case? What are the things Phillip thinks about while deciding whether to go to Memphis?

3. In Chapter 1, the narrator begins the story with an explanation of the perils of a widower with middle-aged children,dating. What is the major issue faced by the widower? What examples of this situation does the narrator provide?

4. In Chapter 4, Phillip speaks of two important relationships in the novel. One is the friendship between Phillip and Alex. The other is the friendship between Alex and Mr. Carver. Father and son are not particularly close, but each are close to Alex. In this chapter, how does this triangle of friendship begin to display itself?

5. At the end of Chapter 1, Phillip gives a detailed explanation of how the family's move to Memphis affected every member of the family. Who appears to have handled the transition the best? For whom was it the hardest? Discuss the impact on each of the four children and Mr. and Mrs. Carver.

6. In Chapter 1, Phillip begins to explain the story of his family and their move from Nashville in 1931. What does he think is important for the reader to know in order for the story to make sense? Where does he begin the story? What does he tell us about the people whose conflict made the family's move necessary?

7. In Chapter 6, Phillip describes many of the differences between himself and Alex as adult men. He then notes the differences. What is the primary difference between Alex and Phillip as Phillip sees it?

8. In his letters to Phillip, Alex talks about Betsy and Josephine's involvement in the social scene in Memphis. In Chapter 3, Alex explains that the two women are rather considered a social institution in Memphis. But Alex also speaks at length about how the two women are the "laughing stock of the town." What does Alex mean by this? How does Phillip react to seeing his sisters when he visits?

9. In Chapter 2, Phillip gives a detailed account of the traveling party on their way from Nashville to Memphis. Who went to Memphis that day? How many cars were in the caravan? Who did Betsy drive with to Memphis and why? What people outside of the immediate family moved to Memphis? Why did Father arrange for everyone in the caravan to move together?

10. In Chapter 2, Phillip recalls a conversation between his mother and a friend of hers from Nashville. In their conversation, the woman declares "you, my dear Minta, will love Memphis." Does Phillip's mother love Memphis? How does she adjust to her new home?

(see the answer keys)

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