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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. Who does Elaine see on the escalator after she has her drink?

2. What job does Elaine's father get in Toronto?

3. What does Elaine have to drink while she's at the store?

4. Does Elaine like memorizing psalms for Sunday School?

5. Where does Mrs. Smeath ask Elaine to go with her family?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Elaine think of Ben when she first meets him?

2. How does Elaine try to frighten Cordelia in tenth grade?

3. How does Elaine feel about the women she talks to at the art retrospective?

4. How does Elaine react to moving to Toronto when she is eight?

5. Who does Elaine believe she sees when she comes out of the cold water?

6. How does Elaine feel when she sees her old school doesn't exist anymore?

7. What does the narrator think happens to things that are past?

8. How does the narrator seem to feel about Cordelia during the first chapter of the novel?

9. Why is Cordelia in the rest home?

10. What makes Elaine feel out of place when she first goes to the art exhibit?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Elaine's relationship with Stephen is an important aspect of her life. Discuss the role of Stephen in the novel.

1) What role does Stephen play in Elaine's childhood? How does growing up with a brother affect Elaine's perception of men and women?

2) What role do Stephen's ideas about time and physics play in Elaine's life and artwork?

3) How does Stephen's death affect Elaine and her family?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Elaine's feelings toward Cordelia.

1) Why does Elaine always think she sees Cordelia, wherever she goes?

2) How is the reality of meeting Cordelia different from Elaine's fantasies about meeting Cordelia, and why?

3) Does Elaine have a realistic idea of what Cordelia is like? In what ways is Elaine's perception of Cordelia flawed, and in what ways is it accurate?

4) What are Elaine's positive and negative feelings toward Cordelia? Are the two women friends? Have they ever been friends?

Essay Topic 3

Elaine is drawn to religion but also rejects it. Discuss the importance and meaning of religion in the novel.

1) What is Grace's mother's attitude to religion? How do her values affect her children?

2) Why does Elaine choose hell over forgiving Grace's mother? How does she perceive God? Why does she seek out different churches as an adult?

3) Why does Elaine embrace the Virgin Mary as an alternative to God? What does the Virgin Mary that Elaine visits in Mexico mean to her?

4) What is the meaning of Elaine's vision of the Virgin Mary when she is in the icy ravine?

(see the answer keys)

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