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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. While Dr. Larch permits Homer to deliver babies, he doesn't allow Homer to do what in Chapter 4?

2. What did Wally's mother change her first and last name to after marrying?

3. The town in which the orphanage is set is described as what?

4. In Chapter 4, Homer and Melony are close to how old?

5. Where did John Irving grow up?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is foreshadowed about the life and career of Dr. Larch in Chapter 2?

2. What is the setting of the novel established in Chapter 1? During what time period does the novel begin?

3. How is Homer Wells described in Chapter 1? How is Homer viewed by Dr. Larch and the nurses?

4. In what ways is St. Cloud's symbolic? How does the author establish this in Chapter 1?

5. In what ways do the characters of Olive Worthington and Dr. Larch relate in Chapter 4?

6. What does the character of Melony symbolize in Homer's life in Chapter 3?

7. How does the setting of Heart's Haven and Heart's Rock compare to the orphanage in Chapter 4?

8. What is symbolic about Homer's naming of the baby in Chapter 4?

9. What causes Homer's first two adoptive families to return him to the orphanage in Chapter 1?

10. What is Dr. Larch's reaction to Homer's leaving the orphanage in Chapter 5? What is foreshadowed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss the theme of fatherhood in the novel. Who, aside from Dr. Larch, exhibits this theme? How does this theme apply to Homer and Dr. Larch? Are their father/son feelings mutual? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Define and discuss literary allusion and the novels "David Copperfield" and "Jane Eyre". What is symbolic in Dr. Larch choosing these novels to read to the children? What do these novels have in common? How do the orphans in the novel respond to these books?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the decision of Candy and Wally to have an abortion. How do each of the characters feel about this choice? Why does Wally attempt to talk Candy out of the procedure? What is Candy's response?

(see the answer keys)

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