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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. Who is Kitty's husband?

2. What does Sabine decide to make for Kitty's boys?

3. How does Dot feel about how she handled the family situation after her husband was killed?

4. What is Howard's last name?

5. What project does the family watch Sabine do?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Dot take Sabine to the top of a knoll?

2. What does Sabine make of the kiss from Kitty?

3. Why is Kitty returning home for awhile and how do Dot and Sabine view this differently?

4. Who are Kitty's sons and what do they find fascinating about Sabine?

5. How are Sabine's memories of the Tonight Show performance different from how the Fetters family views it?

6. What does Sabine tell her parents about her visit with the Fetters family so far?

7. Why does Kitty fear that Sabine will never want to visit the Fetters family again?

8. What news does Sabine tell the Fetters family that upsets them?

9. How does Sabine come to realize that Parsifal had had a hard life long before she met him?

10. How is Parsifal's true past so different from the one Sabine had always envisioned?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dot is baffled that Sabine would have married Parsifal who was a gay man. Why would Sabine commit to marrying Parsifal if he could not return her love in all ways possible? Why would she choose to share her husband with another man? Explain Sabine's complicated love.

Essay Topic 2

The search for love is an important theme in THE MAGICIAN'S ASSISTANT. Can you cite an example to support this theme? Name two other themes and cite examples to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Does Patchett end the story on a note of hope for Sabine or the continuance of her struggle to come to terms with the loss of Parsifal in her life? Give your perspective and two reasons to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,020 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample