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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. According to Reta, what is the most important aspect in her life?

2. According to Reta, young adults live in an age of prolonged _________and protracted__________.

3. What troubles Norah when she comes home one weekend her second year at university?

4. How does Reta approach Norah when she visits her in early November?

5. Why does Reta become angry at the male author being interviewed on the literary television show?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Danielle believe that Norah has embraced her powerlessness in society by living as a homeless person?

2. What does Reta's husband Tom do for a living and how is it significant concerning Norah's absence?

3. Why do Reta and her writer friends at the Orange Blossom Room conclude that the concepts of goodness and greatness are incompatible for women?

4. Why does Reta initially think Norah's problems may have stemmed from her relationship with Ben Abbot?

5. How does Reta respond to the death of Mr. Scribano and how is it significant?

6. According to Ben, how has Norah changed in the few weeks prior to her disappearance?

7. Describe Norah's thoughts about the two main characters in her novel, and why they are significant.

8. Why does the memory of shopping for the perfect scarf for Norah haunt Reta as a "big female secret" and what does the scarf represent?

9. When does Reta's mind begin to wander and what does she think of during dinner with Tom's physicist friend, Colin Glass?

10. Why is Reta reluctant to give Arthur Springer a first draft of her novel, and what does it reveal about her writing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the tone of "Unless," responding to the following questions:

1. How does the tone of the novel exemplify the emotional state of the characters?

2. Does the tone shift or change throughout the novel? Where and how?

Essay Topic 2

What is the role of language in "Unless"? Identify and discuss the following relationships and its significance for the characters:

1. Language and identity.

2. Language and truth.

3. Language and power.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Shields' portrayal of the media in the novel, responding to the following questions:

1. What role does the media have in advancing the plot?

2. What is Reta's relationship to the media?

3. Is it an amicable or hostile relationship and why?

(see the answer keys)

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