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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 comes to take the children for the night in Chapter 9 from Mira?

2. What is Adan's identifying mark?

3. What does Adan wear on his face during the robbery?

4. Who is in charge of the investigation into Baby's death?

5. What is one reason Lala wants money in Chapter 14?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lala like to do on the beach to earn money?

2. How does Baby die?

3. What surprises Sergeant Beckles so much about Wilma's story about Baby?

4. What is Wilma's story to the police about her own marriage to Carson?

5. Why does Mira repeatedly buy raisins at the store following Peter's death?

6. What does Mira Whalen sometimes feel she is being punished for?

7. Why does Wilma tell Lala the story of the one-armed sister?

8. Whose fault does Adan tell Lala he thinks Peter Whalen's murder is?

9. How does Mira Whalen behave for the first five days after the murder of her husband Peter?

10. What is Tone's idea to try to avoid the consequences of Baby's death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Jones describe Lala's relationship with her grandmother Wilma, and what are some of the foundational sources of tension within this relationship? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What are some similarities, and also some important differences, between Lala's and her mother Esme's paths in life? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the tone and language Jones uses to describe the physical and emotional abuse Lala suffers at the hands of her husband Adan throughout the novel.

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