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

2. What kind of woman does Reta realize she cannot create for a heroine in her novel?

3. What has a dormitory appearance with meals served and an enforced curfew?

4. How does Reta explain Norah's strange behavior to Christine and Natalie?

5. What kind of world is Reta interested in creating for her characters?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Reta's complaint in her letter to the editor of a literary magazine regarding one of its advertising pages?

2. How are Reta's feelings about sex related to her writing about Alicia and Roman?

3. Why does Reta feel that normalcy is "monstrous?"

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

5. Describe Reta Winter's thoughts and feelings as the novel opens.

6. Describe life in the Winters' household.

7. How do Natalie and Christine attempt to give the impression that Norah's absence is part of a normal routine?

8. How does the American election results in Florida that Tom, Christine, and Natalie watch relate to Norah's absence?

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

10. Why does Reta wake up with anxiety about cleaning her house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the role of minor characters in the novel.

1. Identify three minor characters and their relationship to the major characters.

2. Describe these three minor characters' physical and psychological attributes. Are they flat or round?

Essay Topic 2

In the novel, marriage is portrayed as a complicated and sometimes fraught union between two people. How does Shields characterize Reta and Tom's marriage? Does she portray them as happily married? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of conflict in "Unless." Discuss Reta's conflict with society. Discuss Norah's conflict with society.

(see the answer keys)

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