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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 Murray say caused him to lose his faith?

2. Why did John continue to lose jobs?

3. Why does Hagar rarely visit her first son, Marvin, who lives nearby?

4. Hagar asks Lottie about the incident with the chicks that happened when they were children. What is Lottie's response?

5. After Bram dies, how did Hagar soothe herself during this time in Manawaka?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Hagar complaining that Arlene is always at the house, and then wishing she had not said it afterward, what does this say about Hagar?

2. In the hospital what is the ultimate humiliation for Hagar, that causes her to have to give up total control? Does she accept this gracefully?

3. What do Mr. Murray Lees and Hagar have in common?

4. Lottie Dreiser does not remember the incident described about the chicks. What does this say about Hagar as a narrator?

5. Compare Hagar and Doris. Has their relationship changed during this book?

6. In Chapter 7, do you think John respects his mother?

7. Hagar's need to do things herself and not accept help is consistent throughout. How is it depicted at the end of Chapter 10?

8. Describe the irony, at the end of Chapter 6, of Bram being buried in the Currie plot, and having the Shipley name carved on the other side of the Currie stone.

9. John's death effected Hagar deeply. However, she was not able to show the emotion until she drinks wine with Mr. Lee. Why do you think that was?

10. In Chapter 9, while at the hospital, Hagar finally starts to notice that she is different from other people, in what way?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare John Shipley to his father Bram.

Part 1) In what ways are they alike in the beginning?

Parts2) How are they more alike toward the end of the novel?

Part 3) When do you think Hagar notices their similarities?

Essay Topic 2

They say hindsight is 20/20. As an old woman Hagar looks back and sees how her life could have turned out differently if she had acted differently. Name a way her life could have been different:

Part 1) as a girl.

Part 2) as a married woman.

Part 3) as a mother.

Part 4) as an old lady.

Essay Topic 3

Hagar is unable to show emotion, and unable to cry when John dies. Hagar is unable to cry for her "dead men." Why do you think Hagar is unable to show emotion? Site examples to back up your response.

(see the answer keys)

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