View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Mirella tells Valeria that she has only one thing on her side in getting married, what is it?

2. What does Michele call Valeria?

3. What does Mirella want her parents to buy her with their Christmas bonus money?

4. What does Sandro give Mirella for her birthday?

5. What happened to Michele's previous manager, the one who did not like him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Michele's father like? How does he behave on Mirella's birthday?

2. Where would Michele like to go? Where would Valeria like to go?

3. The year before, what joke had the family made about Riccardo in Michele's tuxedo?

4. How does Valeria's family react when she says she might keep a diary?

5. What happens when the family tries to find a replacement tuxedo for Riccardo?

6. How does Michele react when Valeria tries to talk to him about Mirella, saying that her questions are about a colleague's daughter?

7. Do Michele or Riccardo help Valeria when she is working in the kitchen?

8. What happens when Valeria first gets home with the notebook?

9. What is Riccardo's attitude toward his father?

10. When Valeria had trouble with Michele early in her marriage, what would her mother do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the understanding of freedom in the novel? Who has it? When is it promised? How important is it?

Essay Topic 2

How does Valeria's relationship with her daughter develop over the course of the novel? What do they learn from each other?

Essay Topic 3

What does it mean to be strong within the context of the novel? Aside from Valeria's thought's on the matter, analyze the words and actions of the other characters and discuss the different understandings of strength.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 708 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample