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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 has a heart ailment?

2. Who asks Amanda to come home in Part 1, Chapter 6?

3. Who is Amanda unable to reach while dreaming?

4. What does Mathilda stare at for the first time in Part 2, Chapter 10?

5. Who mimics Hilda?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens at the hospital when Carl and Ruth go to see Amanda?

2. What causes a doctor to recommend that Amanda should go to St. Michael's?

3. Compare Ruth's popularity at school to Imogene's.

4. What does Theresa do during the day?

5. What occurs when Clement prepares to go to Washington?

6. Why does Amanda go to live with Mathilda?

7. Who is Hilda Grossman? What is her role in the novel?

8. Discuss the role of religion in Part 1, Chapter 5.

9. What happens on the morning when Ruth cries for her mother?

10. What causes Hilda to finally leave Carl's?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the relationship between the island and the lake in the novel. Support your answer by citing examples from the text in order to explain how and why the two are related in the book.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the organization of Part 1 of the novel with that of Part 2. How do the sections differ? Why does the author divide the novel into two parts?

Essay Topic 3

There are many flashbacks throughout the novel involving the drowning of Mathilda. Discuss the role that flashbacks have on the story and how they are used.

(see the answer keys)

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