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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 does Mike give to Val that makes her feel funny?

2. Where does Alec remembering his first kiss with his wife taking place?

3. What song do the children sing in their class together in Part I?

4. Who is Alec's older son?

5. What kind of work does Alec do when he becomes an adult in Part I?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Alec's mentor have some misgivings about him going into the line of work he has chosen?

2. How does Val meet Mike and why is she attracted to him?

3. Why does Vern refuse to talk to the object of his admiration in Part I in the restaurant?

4. What kind of job does Alec's mentor help him get as a young adult?

5. Why is Alec under some pressure to get a job in Part I as a young adult?

6. How does Ben experience the world around him in Part II?

7. What reasons does Spufford imagine that might have prevented the Woolworth's bombing?

8. What does Jo notice about the man she thinks of as having a frog face in Part II?

9. In Part II, what does Alec spend a lot of time doing besides working?

10. What is one action Alec focuses on and participates in in his organizing work in Part II?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Spufford describe Ben's time in hospice at the end of his life in Part V, and how do these descriptions relate to his rendering of the bombing that actually took Ben's life decades earlier? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How and when does the reader begin to understand the severity of Ben's struggles with Schizophrenia? Write an essay analyzing Spufford's descriptions of Ben's experiences with the disease, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Why does Jo eventually move back to London, and how does her move change the course of her life? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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