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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 does Francie fixate on in the photographs in Yuko's online album from the night at the Jolly Llama?

2. What did the real Joshua die from?

3. When Colette calls Francie in Chapter Twenty, what is she so worried about that she is crying during the phone call?

4. When Lowell finds Francie encircling Will with candles, what does Francie tell him she is doing?

5. What did the press call Nell during the Raine scandal?

Short Essay Questions

1. What item is delivered to all three women--Nell, Francie, and Colette--and what does it contain?

2. At the beginning of Chapter Nineteen, what troubling event is the narrator imagining happening?

3. In Chapter Thirteen, what confusion does Nell express about her mental state on the night of July 4th?

4. Where did Token get the papers that he gives to Falk, and how have his intentions regarding these papers shifted since he gained possession of them?

5. In the Patricia Faith interview that Nell watches while she is at work in Chapter Thirteen, what makes it clear that Faith is trying to promote a particular viewpoint about Midas's disappearance?

6. When Colette and Nell see Winnie's interview with the police, what causes them to worry about Winnie's mental health?

7. When Token shows up at Francie's apartment in Chapter Twenty, what does he reveal about his long-ago arrest?

8. In Chapter Twenty-One, what does the reader learn about Dr. H?

9. What is ironic about Nell's boss's attitude when he is asking Nell about the magazine cover?

10. At the beginning of Chapter Twenty-One, what has changed in Charlie and Colette's relationship?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In The Perfect Mother, both police and politicians are subjected to criticism from the media and the public. In what sense do the characterizations of Teb Shepherd and Mark Hoyt dispute the public's judgment? What does the eventual revelation of Nell's past involvement with Lachlan Raine contribute to the novel's portrait of politicians? How do the media and public reactions to Raine complicate the novel's picture of the public perception of politicians? Are politicians in this novel being judged more harshly than the police are? Write an essay that analyzes the novel's perspective on politicians and the police. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

What message about the importance of perspective is conveyed in The Perfect Mother? How do the novel's multiple narrative points-of-view and perspectives contribute to this message? How do the characterizations of Scarlett, Francie, Colette, and Nell contribute? What role does the non-chronological opening play in reinforcing this message? How is this message related to the ironic counterpoint between the newsletters and the main text? How is it related to the dichotomy between the public's perception of the police and politicians and Molloy's characterization of actual officers and politicians in the text? What other elements of the novel support the novel's thematic concern with perspective-taking? Write an essay that analyzes how several elements of the novel work together to convey a message about perspective. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Now that you have finished the book, you are aware of the sequence of events that led Scarlett to kidnap Midas and what Scarlett hoped would be the result of her actions. How does this relate to Midas's name? What elements of the King Midas story do you see reflected in Scarlett's choices and their outcomes? In the original story, the audience is meant to judge King Midas for his greed and lack of forethought--but does Molloy seem to be encouraging her reader to judge Scarlett in this way? What mitigating effect does Scarlett's state of mind have on the reader's judgment of her? How do the social pressures on women that this book explores provide an additional mitigating factor? Write an essay in which you explore how Molloy intends the reader to interpret the allusion to King Midas. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text; be sure to cite any quoted evidence and evidence drawn from outside sources in MLA format.

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