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. H refuses an invitation from George's father to stay for what meal during her third visit?

2. What word had George's mother intended to write on the window above the politician's head as he sat eating a meal at a restaurant?

3. George's mother died as a result of experiencing an allergic reaction to what kind of drug?

4. During the conversation near the castle, George's mother scolded Henry for what transgression?

5. In what grade are the young women who habitually record sounds in the bathroom at George's school?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ritual does George begin to engage while sitting in her garden each day?

2. What does the damage in George's house symbolize?

3. Give an example of a piece of dialogue in How to Be Both that reflects the theme of connection.

4. What two contradictory terms does George use to describe the atmosphere of the Italian town called Ferrara that she had visited with her mother and brother Henry?

5. Discuss a metaphor Smith uses to indicate George's concern that she may be unable to love.

6. What does George tell her father after he discovers her in the garden engaging in her daily ritual?

7. What is the significance of Saint Catherine within the narrative?

8. What piece of information did George's mother forget during their time in Italy and why did this event upset George?

9. What does the shopping cart within the narrative represent in the scene at "the car park" (231)?

10. What clues led George to think that her mother had been put under surveillance prior to her death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sensory details are used frequently by Smith in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of How to Be Both. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Smith’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

Essay Topic 2

Examine the novel How to Be Both from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Smith’s messages about guilt and responsibility within How to Be Both. Focus especially on elements such as George’s guilt about the secret action she had taken to separate her mother from her friend Lisa.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,661 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample