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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 Alix do on a weekly basis with Kelley in high school?

2. What is Emira worried about as she approaches age 26?

3. What was Alix supposed to be for Halloween?

4. Why does Alix call Emira to take Briar late at night in Part I?

5. Where does Emira take Briar in Chapter 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do Alix and Peter move to Philadelphia?

2. What pieces of advice do Alix's friends give her about how she should behave towards Emira following the grocery store incident?

3. In Chapter 8, what does Alix tell her friends was her most embarrassing moment?

4. Why is Alix attracted to Emira rather than to someone who knows and admires her own work when she is hiring a babysitter?

5. How does Alix feel about her old housekeeper from her childhood, Claudette, and why?

6. In Chapter 7, what happens to Kelley and Emira at a basketball game that makes Emira like Kelley more?

7. What story does Kelley tell Emira about his high school girlfriend to demonstrate how rich she was?

8. What does Kelley say to Emira at dinner in Chapter 7 that really upsets her, but she does not show how upset she is?

9. What are some factors that make it harder for Emira to leave her job with the Chamberlains in Chapter 5?

10. What surprises Emira and her friends when Kelley shows up to the bar with them in Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of Kelley's phrase, "I think it would be best if we went our separate ways, and if those paths never again connected" (95)? Why is the phrase so devastating to Alix when Emira intentionally uses it at the end of the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

How are Peter Chamberlain's on-air comments, which some construe as racist, Alix's decision to call the police on Robbie Cormier in high school, and the incident with Emira and the security guard at the grocery store all related? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

What are some assumptions Tamra seems to make about Emira at the Chamberlain Thanksgiving dinner that Emira is uncomfortable with? How does Emira react to some of Tamra's suggestions and overtures? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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