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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 is the name of the restaurant where Iris had previously spied on Sabrina and a group of her friends?

2. At the lover's first picnic, what are they eating?

3. In what country is the novel set?

4. How did Winifred Griffen Prior die?

5. What was the theme of the charity ball Winifred organized according to the newspaper article?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Iris feel about the Laura Chase Memorial Prize?

2. In chapter 1, what is the official conclusion of Laura's cause of death?

3. Why does Iris marry Richard Griffen?

4. On her deathbed, Iris's mother tells her to promise to do something for her. What does Iris promise her mother she will do?

5. In chapter 4, how does the woman feel about the man's story?

6. Describe the relationship between the man and the woman in 'The Blind Assassin' sub novel in chapter 2.

7. Why is it awkward between Liliana and Norval Chase when he returns from the war?

8. In chapter 4, X is hired to kill the king. How is X supposed to get close enough to the king to kill him?

9. In chapter 5, Laura does something that scares and angers Iris because she thinks it will save her dead mother. What does Laura do?

10. In chapter 4, what is Richard Griffen's stance on creating jobs throughout government stimulus plans implemented in America by Franklin D. Roosevelt?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In chapter 7, Iris says "the only way to write the truth is to assume that what you write down will never be read," yet she herself is ultimately writing with a particular audience in mind, Sabrina. Do you agree or disagree with Iris's statement? Why or why not? Furthermore, do you think that Iris's actions support her statement? Consider both Iris's memoir and her novel as examples of her writing. Is the novel true or not? She says that she originally writes it only for herself but then eventually publishes it, thus giving it to other people. How does this affect the truth contained within it?

Essay Topic 2

Iris often reflects on the idea of heaven and hell. At the end of the novel, Iris comes to a conclusion about heaven and hell very similar to the conclusion drawn by the men in the story of the Peach Women of Aa'A. What is this conclusion? Using this conclusion, look at the settings in the story and determine whether these locations are representative of heaven or hell. Also, be sure to examine the significance of gardens and fire in terms of heaven and hell, as well as the implications of literary allusions, such as the importance of the literary roots of Xanadu and Avilion and Iris's name in the context of the passage from the Aeneid Laura leavers for her sister? Be sure to consider ways in which places that appear to be heaven can actually be hell and vice versa.

Essay Topic 3

Many of the characters struggle with their identities. Until Laura dies, Iris lets her father and then Richard control her rather than making her own decisions. Laura is much more free-spirited but even she lets Richard and what she believes to be God's will control her. Although Richard and Winifred seem to be in control, they are really controlled by societal expectations. How are the identities of the characters created in the novel? To what extent do the characters define their own identities and to what extent are their identities controlled by the expectations placed on them by the people around them? Which character do you think has the strongest sense of identity and why? Be sure that your response includes at least three characters.

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