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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 Cordelia want to punish Elaine for, after the incident with the cold water?

2. What does John make for a living?

3. Why does Elaine make mistakes on her Sunday School tests?

4. What is Ben's advice to Elaine about going to the art retrospective?

5. What is strange about the girls' seating arrangements at the parade?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Stephen worried about, when Elaine goes to high school?

2. How does Elaine describe her marriage to Jon?

3. How does Elaine feel about Carol, Cordelia, and Grace when she sees them everyday after she starts sixth grade?

4. How are the paintings at the gallery organized when Elaine arrives at the art retrospective?

5. How does Cordelia act when Elaine's father comes to check on the girls watching the parade?

6. Why doesn't Jon want to come to Elaine's art show?

7. How does Elaine think of killing herself?

8. What is Elaine's attitude toward marriage while she is dating Josef?

9. Throughout the novel, who does Elaine think she sees in crowds or around town?

10. Describe how Stephen dies.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Elaine thinks about suicide and also tries to kill herself in the novel, just as Cordelia tries to kill herself. Discuss the role of suicide in the novel.

1) How do Elaine's thoughts of suicide when she is a young girl affect her? Where do they come from?

2) Why does Elaine try to kill herself when she's married to Jon? Why does she lie about her suicide attempt?

3) Why does Cordelia try to kill herself? Compare Cordelia's suicide attempt to Elaine's suicide attempt.

Essay Topic 2

Elaine often feels herself growing stronger or weaker, empowered or powerless. Discuss the importance of power in the novel.

1) When is Elaine powerful, and when does she feel powerless? What gives Elaine power in the course of the novel?

2) How do Elaine and Cordelia use power over others?

3) What power does Elaine's art give her? Does Elaine recognize the power of her art?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the significance of time in the book.

1) What is Elaine's attitude toward time? How does she think of time, and why does she think of it this way?

2) How does Elaine's perception of time differ from Stephen's perception of time?

3) How is time portrayed in the novel? How is time in the novel symbolic?

4) How does time relate to memory in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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