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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 event is Allie decorating for at the church?

2. Where does Allie go after she leaves Cam standing their yard?

3. What decision does the grand jury return in Jamie's case?

4. Who is the first witness for the prosecution?

5. What does Graham see Jamie do during the trial that the jury could look at unfavorably?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jamie realize when he sees Maggie's ghost in the copy room at the courthouse?

2. Why does Jamie think he hasn't seen or felt Maggie since her death?

3. What does Cam do when the private detective locates Mia for him?

4. What defense does the psychiatrist suggest Graham use for Jamie's case?

5. How does the coroner almost ruin the prosecution's case against Jamie?

6. What does Cam say and do while he is on the witness stand?

7. What does Ellen do to try to get Allie to forgive Cam?

8. What does Mia finally tell Cam after they go ice skating in New Hampshire?

9. What did Jamie and Maggie do on their last night together?

10. Why is Graham nervous after Jamie's trial date is set?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Picoult begin the novel with these lines from a William Carlos Williams poem: "What power has love but forgiveness?/ In other words/ by its intervention/ what has been done/ can be undone./ What good is it otherwise?" What is the significance of these words to the plot and themes of Mercy? What is the difference between forgiveness and mercy?

Essay Topic 2

How is Mercy a story of the tests that challenge people every day and the mistakes that define a life?

Essay Topic 3

Compare the relationships of Cam and Allie and Jamie and Maggie. What did each relationship represent? How did they evolve throughout the novel? What did the individuals discover about themselves through the relationship?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 781 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample