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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. What did Elizabeth once do for a living?

2. How far is it from Calvin's house to work?

3. How did Calvin's adoptive parents die?

4. At what performance does Elizabeth literally run into Calvin in Chapter 3?

5. In Chapter 6, what ratio is Elizabeth's salary at Hastings compared to what men earn for the same position?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Elizabeth believe in Chapter 6, that she has never been defined by what she does?

2. How does Calvin get injured in Chapter 11?

3. In Chapter 4, how has Calvin gone out of his way to prove that he has no interest in Elizabeth beyond a professional capacity?

4. How does Elizabeth get her own TV show?

5. Who is Harriet Sloane, and how do she and Elizabeth meet?

6. Why does Calvin decide to jog to work in Chapter 10?

7. How does Elizabeth figure out how to row?

8. Why does Harriet hope that Elizabeth will call her to help with Madeline?

9. In Chapter 10, what is the only time that Six-Thirty bolts when walking?

10. How does Elizabeth go into labor and have her baby?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Defamiliarization is a literary technique that presents common things in an unfamiliar or strange way. How does Garmus use defamiliarization when she describes the funeral from Six-Thirty's perspective? How does this use of defamiliarization allow readers to have a different perspective and see the funeral in a unique way?

Essay Topic 2

Setting is the place and time where a narrative takes place. What does Lessons in Chemistry take place? How do the settings evoke feelings or set the mood in the book?

Essay Topic 3

Novels can be structured and divided in different ways. How does the structure of a novel provide clarity and flow to a story? What are chapter titles? What are some purposes of chapter titles? How does Garmus use chapter titles in Lessons in Chemistry?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 912 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample