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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 grade does Esther earn in her physics class?

2. What sorts of foods does Esther say she likes the best?

3. What keeps Esther from losing her virginity to Constantin?

4. What is Esther's response to Buddy's marriage proposal?

5. Why had Esther visited her family doctor?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens on the hill behind the chemistry lab at Yale?

2. How does Buddy react when Esther falls while skiing?

3. Contrast Esther's and Buddy's feelings about his diagnosis

4. What is Esther's opinion of Betsy?

5. How does Esther convince the college to exempt her from the chemistry course requirement?

6. What does Esther decide about her friendship with Doreen the night of their visit to Lenny's apartment? What causes her to make this decision?

7. Why does Esther decide to take a bath when she returns to her hotel?

8. Who are Frankie and Lenny?

9. Why is Esther so enamored with the rich foods she is served at the Ladies' Day luncheon?

10. Why does Marco give Esther his diamond stick pin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout The Bell Jar, Esther moves between the present and the past. Select three of the flashback scenes and:

1) describe what happens in each of these scenes

2) discuss the significance of each scene in Esther's life

3) discuss how the flashback scene relates to the "present" time scene it is embedded in.

Cite several specific examples from the novel to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

In The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath provides a commentary on American women. Choose three major scenes or characters from the novel and:

1) describe them as they relate to women

2) explain what you think Plath was trying to say about women through this scene/character.

Be sure to cite specific examples from the novel to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

The Bell Jar is often considered a "coming of age" story. In your essay:

1) describe Esther's journey from adolescence into adulthood

2) describe and comment on the events in her life that help her transition between adolescence and adulthood

3) discuss how successful her transition was. Is she an adult at the end of the novel? Why or why not?

Be sure to cite specific examples from the novel to support your ideas.

(see the answer keys)

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