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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. Which of the following actions does Henry NOT take within Chapter Four?

2. Which character tries to convince Lizzie that she will be unable to save her family in the face of the destruction caused by climate change?

3. Who urges Lizzie to hurry up and get rich if she expects to protect her family from the effects of climate change?

4. Lizzie discovers in Chapter Four that Will makes his living in what field?

5. Lizzie keeps worrying that Ben will get desperate and suggest moving to which state?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is "milling" (129) in the context of the field called Disaster Psychology?

2. For what reason does Lizzie stay home during the three weeks of Ben and Eli's absence in Chapter Four?

3. Discuss an instance when Offill uses a literary device to illustrate some aspect of the sibling relationship between Ben and Lizzie.

4. What do the keys featured in Chapter Three symbolize?

5. In what kind of dwelling do Ben and Catherine live and what is the significance of this fact?

6. In what way does the motif of dreams arise within Chapter Four in order to again demonstrate the strong connection between Henry and Lizzie?

7. With which character does Lizzie have a second chance encounter in Chapter Four?

8. How does Sylvia react when Lizzie shares her plans for creating a 'doomstead' for her family someday?

9. In what way does Offill use the character of Lorraine to demonstrate the frustration felt by many Americans in the wake of the 2016 election?

10. How does Ben feel about the results of the election and how does Offill provide this information to the reader?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine Offill’s use of characterization methods to portray Lizzie’s brother Henry within the narrative. What effects do these characterization methods have on the themes and messages inherent in Weather: A Novel?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the effects of stress on the novel's characters and the coping methods each character uses to deal with emotional turmoil. Which characters' methods are effective, which are ineffective, and how do these varying levels of efficiency affect the messages sent by Weather: A Novel within the text?

Essay Topic 3

Choose an object from Weather: A Novel, such as the green coat, the educational video game, the slips of paper on which Henry writes his horrific visions, or some other symbolic object and discuss its overall meaning and its connection to themes within the text.

(see the answer keys)

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