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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 list does Lois have arranged in alphabetical order in her recipe box?

2. Who is elected Prime Minister again?

3. What does Natalie remind her family about how long Norah has been wearing her garden gloves?

4. According to the Chair in Theology, what faith is balanced on words "already" and "not yet?"

5. What is the name of the hospital that Norah is in?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Lois's conversation with Arthur when she comes over to investigate about dinner significant?

2. At the end of the novel, what do we learn about the reason for Norah's disappearance and subsequent homelessness?

3. What does Reta and Tom's walk in Orangetown cemetery represent?

4. In her letter to Russell Sandor, Reta states that she fears nothing. Why does she feel this way and how does she prove it in her letter?

5. As Reta and Arthur have their heated discussion, what three things happen that interrupt them that provide comic relief to the serious conversation?

6. In her letter about the death of Peter Harding, how does Reta compare herself to Norah?

7. According to Reta, what is the "worry word" of life and why is it significant?

8. Why does Reta call Dennis Ford-Halpern's omission of women in his book "The Goodness Gap" a "moral dilemma in itself"?

9. What issue does Reta take with Emily Helt's book review in the Chicago Tribune?

10. Why does Reta feel that Arthur's suggestion to focus on Roman instead of Alicia is an egregious one?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss grief as a major theme of the novel, especially the expression of suffering, responding to the following questions:

1. How does Reta cope with her grief?

2. How are Norah's actions a manifestation of grief?

3. What is the relationship between memory and grief?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of setting in the novel, responding to the following questions:

1. What facts about the city of Toronto relate directly or indirectly to the lives of the characters?

2. What facts about the time in which the novel is set, 2000-2001, relate directly or indirectly to the novel's themes and overall meaning?

(see the answer keys)

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