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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 Sandy?

2. What has Arthur wanted in his room since he was little?

3. What secret skill does Arthur have?

4. What is laying at the base of Benjamin Spencer's headstone in Section 4?

5. Why was Arthur going to give Maddy Mr. and Mrs. Hamburger?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Lucille treated by Frank's daughter in Section 3?

2. What happens when Maddy runs into Anderson in Section 4?

3. What happens to Frank at the start of Section 3?

4. How does Arthur indicate that he is ready for death in Section 4?

5. How does Maddy feel when Arthur tells her, in Section 4, that he has asked Lucille to move in with them?

6. How does Lucille's first baking class go in Section 3?

7. What is the importance of the dollhouse furniture in Section 4?

8. In Section 3, how do Steve and Arthur express their grief over their wives differently?

9. How do Lucille, Maddy, and Arthur react to the changing weather from summer to fall?

10. What happens when Lucille returns from the hospital in Section 3?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do cemeteries symbolize in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

How do Arthur and Maddy change one another throughout the course of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

In Section 4, Lucille talks to Maddy and Arthur about her experience with happiness. She says, "I felt like some embodiment of happiness was sitting there, and I was afraid to look over at it. I was afraid it would go away. And then it talked. The happiness, it talked, it said, 'Look at me.' So I looked over. And happiness said, 'You're not looking at me. You're looking at you'" (171). What does this quote mean, and how does it highlight one of the key themes of the novel?

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This section contains 1,335 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample