View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Helene, what is often true of selfish women?
(a) They drink heavily.
(b) They don't put on weight.
(c) They drive very fast.
(d) They don't smoke.

2. Who gives BZ and Helene money to stay married?
(a) Helene's aunt.
(b) Freddy Chaikin.
(c) Carter.
(d) BZ's mother.

3. According to Maria, why did her family move to Silver Wells?
(a) Because her father owned the town.
(b) Because the weather was nice.
(c) Because they were running from the law.
(d) Because she got a job there.

4. When Maria lived in New York, what did she do?
(a) She was a waitress.
(b) She was a lawyer.
(c) She was a teacher.
(d) She was a model.

5. How does Maria pronounce her name?
(a) Mar-eye-ah.
(b) Mar-ee-ah.
(c) Mur-i-ah.
(d) Mar-a-ah.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Maria prefer the studio cut of the second picture Carter made with her?

2. According to Carter, what does the hospital where Kate is staying tell him about Maria's frequent visits to see her daughter?

3. What season is it when Carter stops living in the house in Beverly Hills?

4. When Helene arrives at the hospital to see Maria as the novel opens, what is she told?

5. After he returns from his film shoot, how does Carter respond to Maria's question if he's going to stay at the house in Beverly Hills?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Maria do the first month after she and Carter break up and what does it signify?

2. What is the only time in Maria's day where she does not think about the past nor is overcome with dread?

3. Where does Maria begin to sleep after her breakup with Carter and why is it significant?

4. When Maria thinks of the men that she has been intimate in her life, what conclusion does she come to and how is it important to the novel?

5. How does Maria's mother die and why is it significant?

6. What is the location of Maria's abortion and what does it represent?

7. How do Larry Kulik and BZ behave around the girl in the white halter dress at a party Maria attends and why is it significant?

8. Where did Maria grow up and why is it significant?

9. What time does Maria want to be on the freeway and why is it significant?

10. When Maria asks if Carter and she are separated when he returns home, how does he respond and why is it significant?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 938 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample