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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 are all the people at the harbor doing?

2. What was Avey's personality as a girl?

3. Which of the following does NOT describe Avey's hotel on the island?

4. What was Thomasina's former profession?

5. How does Avey feel when she enters her hotel room?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened when Avey finally let loose with her suspicions of Jay?

2. Why did Avey become obsessed with the idea that Jay was being unfaithful to her?

3. How does the author use a flashback to show the beginnings of Avey's discomfort on the cruise ship?

4. What does Avey recall about the hard financial times they had during their early marriage?

5. What does Avey learn from the taxi driver about what all the commotion is about with the people at the harbor?

6. What visions does Avey have during the night she spends at the hotel?

7. What is the significance of the peach parfait for Avey?

8. What strikes Avey as odd as she watches the people at the harbor?

9. What complications emerge in Avey's dream when she, as an adult, resists Great Aunt Cuney's insistence to follow her?

10. How does Avey try to sort out the mess she seems to be in at the harbor?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The role of women is a main topic addressed in this story. Explain the theme that extends through all the female characters. What is the presumed role of women in America during the 1960s and 1970s? Explain by giving examples.

Essay Topic 2

Explain Marshall's use of regionalism in the novel. Cite examples of at least two different instances of regionalism and explain why the author used them where she did.

Essay Topic 3

Praisesong for the Widow is set in the 1970s during the time of the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement in America. What impact does this factor have on the author? What impact does this factor have on any of the other characters? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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