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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 Meg's youngest child?

2. In her Chapter 9 email to Jim, what does Lorelei say she never forgave Colin for?

3. What gift did Bill give Meg when he was trying to get her to let him come home after she kicked him out?

4. Once Bird House is cleared out, what does Meg think has also gone away?

5. When Colin confesses to Rory that he has given up on helping Lorelei, how does Rory react?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lorelei's Chapter 16 email to Jim reveal happened between her and Rhys on the night before Rhys's death?

2. What cruel irony does Meg see in what she was doing herself at the time of Lorelei's death?

3. What does Lorelei tell Jim about the trauma in her own childhood?

4. What obstacle prevents Lorelei and Jim from spending time together in person, and how does Jim propose they deal with this issue?

5. When Colin proposes to come see Rory in Thailand, which details of his life does Rory share, and which details does he keep to himself until the first night of Colin's visit?

6. When the first floor of the house is completely cleaned out, what does Meg realize about Lorelei and the past?

7. During Beth's September, 2006 visit to England, what contrast is there between her attitude toward the affair and Bill's?

8. When Beth receives Meg's text about Lorelei's computer password, why is she so relieved and happy?

9. What is Lorelei's explanation to Jim regarding why she is always hungry?

10. What point does Lorelei make about Valentine's Day in her email to Jim?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of the thematic motif of birds in The House We Grew Up In? How does Jewell use the family name, Lorelei's devotion to the Easter egg hunt and collecting the egg foils, and other references to birds to convey ideas about home and family? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about the symbolic significance of birds and things related to birds in this text. Support your claims with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Choose one idea associated with Easter Sunday--religious or secular--and show how this idea is developed through the text's focus on the Bird family's celebrations of Easter. (Note that you are tracing an idea, like "rebirth," "salvation," or "springtime," not a tradition, object, etc., like "Easter egg hunts.") Trace the development of this idea throughout the text and show how this symbolic association illuminates important aspects of the Bird family's story. Support your claims with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

Essay Topic 3

You have spent some time considering how the loss of Rhys impacted Rory later in life. Now, choose a different family member and write an essay that makes and defends a claim about how Rhys's death impacted this character. Consider their relationship with Rhys, their individual personality and capabilities, and in what way their later life might have been different had Rhys lived a natural lifespan. Support your ideas with evidence drawn from throughout the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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