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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 happens to Carolina when she testifies in court against Mr. Peter?

2. What does Kate do for a living?

3. What band does Kate love?

4. How does a loose woman sit at the bar in the story "Difficult Women"?

5. What evidence do the police find of Savvie's and Carolina's abduction that is particularly difficult for the sisters to confront?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the narrator in "The Mark of Cain" decide not to let on that she knows her husband switches places with his twin?

2. What does Marcy like about the exercise classes in the story "Florida"?

3. Why does Bianca agree to go out with Dean and initially start a relationship with him?

4. What traumatic event did Kate experience with her long-term partner before meeting Magnus?

5. In the story "Difficult Women," what is it about death that makes girls more interesting?

6. Why does Carolina tell Savvie she decided to marry Darryl?

7. What do Bianca's parents do with her when she is a baby?

8. Why does Sarah, who goes by Sierra at work, perform at a strip club?

9. What does Kate's elderly landlady tell her in the story "North Country" when she meets her for the first time?

10. In "Difficult Women," what does Gay say a loose woman sees in the mirror and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In several stories, including "North Country," "Break All the Way Down," and "Strange Gods," stillbirth or the sudden, tragic loss of a very young child are recurring themes. Write an essay analyzing how Gay uses the topic of grief over a child's death to develop the main characters in several of her stories, citing specific examples to the text in your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing why the narrator has such difficulty fully trusting her lover in the story "Strange Gods." Why do you think the narrator finally comes around to accepting her partner's marriage proposal, on her partner's fifth attempt, at the end of the story?

Essay Topic 3

In the story "La Negra Blanca," what does the character Alvarez symbolize? How does Alvarez's status as an undocumented immigrant affect Sarah's decision not to go to the police after William Livingston rapes her? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text.

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