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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 stands "cast in concrete" (para. 3) to commemorate the accident?

2. What metaphor is used in paragraph 5 to describe the way Anna and Harold would drop through the air during their act?

3. What would Harold show the audience members during part of their act?

4. How many acts performed before Anna and her husband's act on the day of the disaster?

5. What did Harold and Anna use for part of their act?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the narrator sometimes forget that her mother was part of the Flying Avalons?

2. How is the scene at the circus before the disaster described? What was the weather like? What was the audience doing?

3. Describe Anna and Harold's typical trapeze performance.

4. What stands in the center of town as a reminder of the disaster? Where does the narrator find out about the events that day?

5. What type of performer was the narrator's mother? Where does she live and what is her medical condition?

6. Why does the narrator say people in the East are at a disadvantage regarding weather changes than those in the West, where she used to live?

7. Why does the narrator find it unsurprising that her mother was able to perform while seven months pregnant?

8. How does the narrator describe the way her mother moves through their home in New Hampshire in paragraph 1?

9. What detail about Anna was not mentioned in the newspaper accounts of the disaster?

10. What events followed lightning striking the main tent pole while Harold and Anna were performing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay describing the imagery used in “The Leap." Indicate examples of imagery in the text and identify possible meanings.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay examining fire as a symbol in Leap. In what scenes does fire appear? What is the context? How does this symbol develop the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

Write a brief essay analyzing the title “The Leap.” Explore the ways in which this title connects to the plot and themes of the story.

(see the answer keys)

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