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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 The Nutcracker lighting vendor gift Dara, Charlie and Marie every year?

2. Who does Dara think is behind Marie's new purchase in Part III?

3. Where does Charlie say he is going as it gets late at Nutcracker practice when he calls Marie?

4. What does Bailey Bloom say when she sees the Nutcracker head on Corbin?

5. What makes Dara nervous in the newspaper article she sees during Nutcracker rehearsal?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Dara react to Mrs. Bloom's story about Derek?

2. What do Benny and Gaspar tell Dara after Derek's death?

3. How does Randi tell Dara she knows Derek, and why does she come to the studio?

4. What does Corbin keep asking Dara to do that Dara refuses to do in class with him?

5. What does Dara repeatedly recall from her childhood and going to the carnival with her sister and father?

6. What does Dara tell Charlie and Marie that people must never find out about in the wake of Derek's death?

7. Why does Dara call Mrs. Bloom in Part III?

8. What did Dara and Marie used to look forward to at the end of The Nutcracker season with their mother?

9. What does Charlie do once a month in an homage to Dara's mother?

10. Why does Dara eventually realize her mother never cast herself or Marie as Clara in The Nutcracker?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Charlie explain his transgressions and mistakes to Dara just before his suicide, and how does Dara react to these explanations? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Why is it so significant that Marie dyes her hair blond shortly after starting a relationship with Derek, and how do Dara and Charlie react to Marie's new look? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

What are some of the traumas and difficulties Dara, Charlie and Marie survived in the aftermath of living with Mr. and Mrs. Durant? How do each of these characters remember their childhoods together in the Durant house? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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