View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where else in the world did the narrator get the same feeling she had when looking at L's paintings?

2. How did Tony's parents die?

3. How are the people with whom L lived while his father died described?

4. What does the narrator say Tony "does not show weakness of" (22)?

5. Which relative of Brett's aided in she and L's arrival in the harbor town?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do readers learn of L's backstory in the fourth chapter?

2. Describe L and M's first interaction the morning after he arrived at the second place. How did she feel about him? How did he make her feel?

3. What does Tony say to M when she gets angry with him after L says he is not staying with them?

4. What did the narrator do on her final night in Paris and with whom?

5. Where was L when M first wrote to him? What did he say about the idea of being alone? Where did he say he felt most alone and free?

6. In what ways did L and Tony's early experiences with death manifest differently in each man?

7. What issue did Brett have with the bed linen in the second place? What did she want M to do?

8. What do readers learn about Tony's backstory in the third chapter?

9. What does the narrator feel L's painting emanated when she first saw them that morning in Paris, which compelled her to follow it to the art gallery?

10. How old was L when he first became famous? What did his critics find shocking about his early work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a detailed analysis of tone in Cusk's Second Place. Include whether the tone changes or remains the same. If it changes, include details on when, why and whether this change is effective.

Essay Topic 2

Away from the main character examine the way the author uses the other characters in the story. When does she introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay examining the cabin in the North Hills as a symbol in Second Place. In what scenes does the cabin appear? What is the context? How does the cabin develop the narrative?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 782 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample