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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 Father insist that every full-speed-ahead business person should have in his/her company?

2. Who leads the union at the time of the union disputes at the Post?

3. Kay resents ____________'s unwillingness to accept her, but is intimidated and defers to his ideas.

4. Kay declares that she will work, but that she will not __________ - the opposite of what many expected her to do.

5. Kay realizes that Capote only wants her around at his party in order to re-energize after ______________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What do none of the guests at the Bohlens' farewell party suspect of JFK, according to Kay?

2. How does the Post already regard Richard Nixon as told from the point of view of Kay?

3. How might one describe Kay's relationship to Sweeterman during her position at the Post?

4. What happens during the pressmens' Pearl Harbor as Kay finds out early in the morning on October 1, 1975?

5. Why does Kay feel it is her job to keep in touch with U.S. officials in and out of office?

6. What does the Nixon spokesman first say of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters break-in?

7. What does Buffet suggest that Kay do with the undervalued stock?

8. What is the world's reaction to Watergate during this time, as it's only just begun to unfold?

9. What does Pearson keep Kay from doing during the situation with Phil?

10. What does Henry Kissinger want to discuss when he sits down for a lunch with Kay?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What's compelling about Kay is that she is never afraid to ask for help from others - Bradlee, Capote, Buffet, etc.

Part 1: Why do you think Kay is keen to get advice from others about various questions in her life?

Part 2: What does it say about Kay that she is willing to listen to others and to their perspectives?

Part 3: Do you think it's a sign of weakness or of strength to ask for help? Why?

Essay Topic 2

The theme of sexism runs rampant in this book, with even Kay's father telling her that no man should be working for his wife when Kay's husband is given the position at the Post as opposed to her.

Part 1: Why do you think Kay's father thought that Phil was up to the task for the job?

Part 2: Do you think Kay would have made a better editor than Phil did? Why or why not?

Part 3: Why do you think that men though women were less able to handle the stresses of the newspaper world?

Essay Topic 3

During the pressman's strike, Kay is challenged to make decisions that are not only true to the Post, but also fair for the workers.

Part 1: Do you think Kay made the right decisions during the pressman's strike? Why or why not?

Part 2: Had Kay simply given in to the demands of the pressmen, what might have happened?

Part 3: One of the workers committed suicide as a result of the strike. Does Kay have any fault in this horrible consequence?

(see the answer keys)

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