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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. While the unnamed narrator had a discussion with the lawyer featured in Santa Barbara, 2016, her babysitter had expected her how long ago?

2. Who told a story at the gathering about seeing an example of real love inside a Home Depot store?

3. The unnamed narrator states in San Francisco, 2012 that, "Knowing someone is" how many "parts force" (74)?

4. In what city did the unnamed narrator commit adultery as a means to end her marriage to John?

5. Including the two times per month that the unnamed narrator and John were having sex, how many times per month did she allow him to touch her?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the unnamed narrator do for a living during her marriage to John?

2. When the identity of the father of the unnamed narrator's child is finally revealed, who is it?

3. In what way does the unnamed narrator find her previous view of intimacy problematic?

4. Describe the difference between the unnamed narrator's view of therapy in 2014 and her current view.

5. For what reason did the unnamed narrator make several attempts to commit adultery before she was successful?

6. What act does the unnamed narrator describe as having been attractive due to its promise of "finite pleasure" (180)?

7. For what reason did the unnamed narrator decide not to become friends with Dominique?

8. What is the setting of the section entitled Fresno, 2014 and which three new characters are introduced?

9. In what specific setting does the story told by the unnamed narrator in the section entitled Santa Barbara, 2016 take place?

10. In what way does Popkey purposely mislead the reader at the start of the section called San Francisco, 2012?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the instances of irony within the narrative of Topics of Conversation and analyze Popkey’s purpose for including each instance you discuss.

Essay Topic 2

How are the topics of romantic relationships, love, and sex treated within the novel Topics of Conversation and how does their treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the effects of stress on the novel's characters and the coping methods each character uses to deal with emotional turmoil. Which characters' methods are effective, which are ineffective, and how do these varying levels of efficiency affect the messages sent by Topics of Conversation within the text?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 979 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample