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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. How long has Ellen stayed with her mother before her death?

2. What is the topic George asks Ellen about that night she comes down to get milk and finds her parents in the dining room?

3. What kind of sandwich does Ellen eat after the trees are decorated?

4. Why does Ellen say she buys flowers?

5. What is the game Grandmother Gulden teaches Ellen when she's a child?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mrs. Forburg say about why teaching is important to her and what does she say about understanding Ellen's challenges as a student?

2. Why does Ellen say that no one acknowledges the ribbons on her mother's wheelchair wheels?

3. What does Jeff say about Brian's problems at college and what is Ellen's response?

4. What does Ellen do when she and Jeff go to the cemetery?

5. What are Ellen's theories about why Mrs. Duane and Kate don't talk about men while they're having lunch together?

6. Describe some of the reactions to Ellen's arrest.

7. What changes on the day when Kate calls for Ellen to help her out of the tub?

8. What does Ellen say when Jeff asks if hallucinations are a side-effect of Kate's medication?

9. What does Ellen think about when Jeff asks if she has a message for Jon? What is her message?

10. What is the memory Ellen has about a tree lighting event the first year her mother was one of the Minnies?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ellen tries to question Dr. Cohn alone one day but the doctor refuses to talk about Kate's cancer without Kate present. Is the doctor correct? Ellen says that she wants to know more about the progression of the disease but can't ask without her mother present. Should she have asked? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Ellen's relief that her mother's suffering is over is seen by some as an admission of guilt, especially when she's able to sleep so soundly her first night in jail. Describe Ellen's reaction to her mother's death, to her arrest and to her trial. Which of the reactions is most believable? Which is least? Why doesn't Ellen tell that she believes her father gave her mother the morphine? Why doesn't her father come forward?

Essay Topic 3

Ellen is scornful of her father's lack of compassion for Kate, but he says that she should remember that he is taking "the night shift." What does he mean? Should George have done more for Kate? Is Ellen underestimating the role he's playing? Support your answers with examples from the story.

(see the answer keys)

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