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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. When did Maryna first see Booth on stage?

2. What kind of healthy dessert does Daunta learn to make and prepare for the immigrants?

3. What do Maryna and Warnock do to solve the problem?

4. What is the name of the criminal whose skull Edwin Booth possesses?

5. Who is supposed to be the great actor of the family?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Maryna define utopia? How does it compare to a marriage in her mind?

2. In Chapter Six, many of the characters take on new names. Who are they and what are their new names? How does Maryna react to this change?

3. When Wanda attempts suicide, how do the members of the commune react to her attempt?

4. Mr. Warnock uses a devise by which he fills the theatre. What does he do, and why? How does Maryna react to it? Does it work?

5. Maryna admired Edwin Booth from the time of her childhood. After her performance with him, she joins him in his apartment. What does she learn about Booth in this chapter?

6. In Chapter Eight, Maryna talks about her "newly reconstituted family." Who are the members of the family, and what roles do each of these people play in Maryna's life? What does Maryna declare to Bogdan about her life with this family?

7. How does Maryna meet Miss Collingridge? When do they meet a second time? What happens after this second meeting?

8. In Chapter Seven, Maryna moves to San Francisco to return to the stage. How does she settle into San Francisco? Where does she live first? To where and how does she move? What is her goal?

9. What does Julian's wife, Wanda, do when she arrives on their land? How is this typical of the character as she is portrayed by the narrator?

10. In his love letter to Maryna in which he asks her to travel with him, Ryzard refers to Jack Goodyear, a squatter Ryszard has met in the mountains. Jack Goodyear explains to Ryszard that "sometimes it seems to him as though there were two Jacks." What does Goodyear mean by this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the Thanksgiving dinner, Bogdan begins the tradition of asking everyone at the table what they are thankful for at this time. What are some of the things people at the table are thankful for? What kind of foreshadowing does this scene create for the collapse of the commune?

Essay Topic 2

Chapter One reveals a great deal about Maryna and the people who surround her. In this chapter, we get a clearer picture of the people Maryna surrounds herself with and how she thinks of those people. Why does Maryna want people to uproot themselves and their families and leave Krakow? How does she see the people who surround her? Why does she feel certain these people will follow her?

Essay Topic 3

Opposite the title page, the author states the story is a work of fiction based on a true story. On what story has Sontag based her novel? What does she admire about Helena Modjeska, based on her characterization of Maryna?

(see the answer keys)

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