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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. In the Introduction, who does the author quote regarding the definition for "story" versus "plot?"
2. In telling his father's story as a child, who does Teddy represent in this story?
3. How old was the author when his mother made him feel like a traitor for writing the fictionalized "Ansel Gibbs" about his father's death?
4. What is the title of the book the author wrote to tell the story of his father to a child?
5. What is the title of the first autobiography written by the author?
Short Essay Questions
1. What was on the stained glass pieces in the author's office?
2. How is the author's story, our story?
3. How did the author's mother's aging affect her sons' lives?
4. Why is the author telling his secrets?
5. Why does the author write "The Wizard's Tide" and what differs in the book from his childhood memory of his father's death?
6. Why/how does the author identify with one of the stained glass images?
7. How did the author's mother's aging affect her life?
8. What illness did the author's daughter have and how did it affect her?
9. According to the author, how does memory help us finish with the past?
10. Why did the author feel like a dwarf as depicted in C. S. Lewis' "The Last Battle?"
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
The author's mother is quoted in Part One of the book as saying, "If I didn't have something to look for, I would be lost." Answer either A or B.
A. Why does she make this statement? Discuss the significance of the mother losing her beauty and trying to find it daily with her make-up and other enhancements, in relation to her state of mind, her health, and her relationship with her sons and her caregivers/friends.
B. Why does the author describe the statement as one of his mother's "most shimmering utterances?" How does this theme of "lost and found" play out throughout the details of the author's life described in the book - his family (mom and brother, wife and kids), friends, students?
Essay Topic 2
Why does the author attend St. Barnabas Episcopal Church? How is this place more at home for him than another Church? Why does the author enjoy the chanting so much? Who is Robert MacFarlane, and how does he impact the author's connection with this church?
Essay Topic 3
In the Introduction, the author writes that 1) telling secrets makes it easier to see where we have been and where we are going; 2) it makes it easier for others to share their secrets; and 3) that exchanges like this is what being a family, and being human is all about. Using details from Part One, Part Two and Part Three of the book, provide details from the authors life experiences that support each of the three statements (1,2 3) above?
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This section contains 947 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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