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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 Claude do in the basement of Mr. Weisfeld's music store?

2. Why does Claude dress in a suit and tie for his first session accompanying Peter Fisk at the Fisk home?

3. What used to be in the room that Peter Fisk shows Claude while he waits to go to the dance with Catherine?

4. What instrument does Mrs. Fisk buy for her daughter, Catherine, in Mr. Weisfeld's music store?

5. What is the relationship between Claude and Ivan Andrews?

Short Essay Questions

1. After Mr. Powers has Claude's past investigated, what information does Emma give Claude about his father?

2. How has Catherine's attitude toward Claude changed from when they were children?

3. Why doesn't Claude understand why Mr. and Mrs. Powers treat him the way they do?

4. Why is driving a cab an unusual choice of work for Emma, Claude's mother?

5. How does Claude demonstrate drive and fortitude in his preparation to play with Mr. Fredericks at the music festival?

6. While Lady and Claude live in the townhome in Manhattan, what do we learn about Lady from her jobs and activities, and her attitude toward Claude after Mr. Weisfeld dies?

7. How is Lady's lack of drive and ambition a disadvantage in understanding Claude's life?

8. How does the experience with the FBI affect Emma?

9. What evidence is there that Claude does not relate well to children, especially regarding the movies and Catherine Marsh?

10. Why does Mr. Weisfeld send Claude to various piano instructors?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the author create the pace of the story? At what points does the story seem to slow down or speed up? At what points do obvious jumps in time occur? How does the author treat time gaps?

Essay Topic 2

Why does Frank Conroy choose Body and Soul for the title of the novel? 1) Give examples from the book that explain the title. 2) Do you think the title fits the book? Why or why not? 3) If you could give the book a different title, what would it be? Give reasons for your answer.

Essay Topic 3

What distinguishing characteristics of Frank Conroy's writing style would help you to identify other works by him? Would you consider Frank Conroy's style to have individuality? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 921 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample