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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 drug does Tolentino claim can be useful to one's emotional health if used sparingly?

2. On which generation does the essay "The Story of a Generation of Seven Scams" focus?

3. Tolentino states that in adult fiction, which element almost always "comes first" (98) in a female protagonist's plot arc?

4. The building featured in The Bell Jar was patterned after which real building?

5. In what year was the disastrous Fyre Festival held?

Short Essay Questions

1. To what types of evidence does Tolentino point after she states, "Something likely happened to Jackie on September 28, 2012" (203)?

2. For what reason does Tolentino characterize student debt in America as a "generation-defining scam" (167)?

3. What does Tolentino mean when she asserts that Mark Zuckerberg "controls a nation-state" (169)?

4. What is the symbolism of the Amazon building Tolentino discusses in the essay entitled "Pure Heroines"?

5. What distinction does Tolentino make between the depiction of trauma in children's literature and the depiction of trauma in adult literature?

6. What underlying reasons does Tolentino point to when she discusses scam culture and its takeover of the online landscape?

7. Why does Tolentino describe the Rolling Stone article "A Rape on Campus" as "now infamously, a graphic account of a gang rape at Phi Kappa Psi," (197) a fraternity at the University of Virginia?

8. Who is Esther Greenwood?

9. Explain how Tolentino contrasts her journalism skills in 2011 with her journalism skills in 2020.

10. Who is Billy McFarland?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tolentino begins the text with a quote from a Sylvia Plath poem. Explain how this poem excerpt relates to the text and how it reflects the text’s themes.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Tolentino’s decision to include colloquialisms, slang, and profane language within the text. What purpose did Tolentino have in mind when including these elements and how does the inclusion of these instances support the overarching themes and messages of the text?

Essay Topic 3

What messages are being sent about racial tensions in America in the collection Trick Mirror and what actions does Tolentino hope to provoke within the text’s audience?

(see the answer keys)

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