View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the main reason during the Christmas vacation of 1985 that Laura is looking forward to school starting again?

2. While planning how to avoid further nightmares like her biting dream, Laura vows not to let anyone hurt her anymore. Instead, she vows to do what?

3. What does Donna say when she sees Laura writing about how she will cry forever when her pony dies?

4. To whom is Laura referring when she writes, "I think that the times that I have to go into the woods at night have poisoned me?" (55)

5. What is NOT one false thing Laura tells the reader that people say about her?

Short Essay Questions

1. What method does Laura decide to use in order to drive BOB away and stop the sexual abuse he is inflicting on her?

2. How is foreshadowing used within the scene of Laura receiving a pony for her birthday and checking the pony's gender?

3. When Donna leaves the fort to go to the bathroom, Maddy uses the opportunity to tell Laura something. How do her comments depict the novel's theme of prophecy?

4. What do stuffed animals symbolize within the first diary entry?

5. What event occurs that results in Laura's meeting with the Log Lady?

6. How does Laura feel during the sexual experience with Rick and Josh and how does her feeling relate to the sexual abuse to which she has been subjected?

7. When Donna and Laura leave the guys by the fire in order to relieve themselves, they get really scared. What are they scared of?

8. When Laura arrives home and asks her mom about the Log Lady, what does Laura's mom tell her?

9. How does Laura respond to Maddy's offer to share some of her cigarettes with Donna and Laura on their night in the fort?

10. How does Laura feel when she tries smoking for the first time?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a persuasive essay that argues either for or against the use of The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer in high school classrooms. Support your argument using logical reasoning, poignant examples of modern teenage life, and concrete details from the novel's narrative.

Essay Topic 2

How is the theme of vulnerability demonstrated within the novel and what is the author's message about this topic? Prove your points with concrete details from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

What is the novel's treatment regarding the theme of hope? Discuss who has or does not have hope, and when, ultimately putting forth a claim stating the author's message about the nature of hope. Provide concrete details from the novel to support your claim.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,152 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample