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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. Who does Don meet at Sisters whom he starts a romantic relationship with?

2. What does Ava want Henry to do as soon as he gets home from work?

3. What bothers Don about Sasha?

4. What does Sylvia tell JJ about Pinewood at the end of Chapter 10?

5. What was JJ's grandmother's name?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of memories does Sylvia have about her own childhood?

2. What does Sylvia offer to do for Marcus that she is hoping he will not take her up on?

3. Where does Ava reveal the most personal details of her anguish over her infertility?

4. What is the relationship between Mae and Jonnie Norwood, who co-run the restaurant called Sisters?

5. Apart from the people in the online chat room, who is the first person Ava tells she is pregnant in Chapter 15?

6. What area of her property does Sylvia devote special care and attention to?

7. What name does JJ tell Sylvia he goes by now in Chapter 10?

8. How does Sylvia feel about JJ Ferguson?

9. What happens in Chapter 12 when Sylvia calls Devon?

10. How does Sylvia feel about her son in-law, Henry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do you think Sylvia means when she tells Frank Ferguson "There's no getting beyond some things" (353)? Write an essay explaining your answer, taking into account both Sylvia's and Frank's fraught relationships with their own children.

Essay Topic 2

Many of the women in the novel - Sylvia, Ava, Carrie, and Jonnie, to name a few - are strong and resilient, but they deal with men who have betrayed or let them down in various ways. Pick two female characters who have been hurt by their relationships with men and compare and contrast how they deal with the betrayals.

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think Sylvia continues to speak with, and eventually forms a bond with, Marcus, even though she has never met him in person and had no previous relationship with him before he randomly dialed her number from jail?

(see the answer keys)

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