73 pages • 2 hours read
Alison BechdelA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
Reading Check
1. What is Bruce’s job?
2. When did Bruce pass away?
3. Where is Alison’s hometown?
4. By what nickname do the Bechdels refer to the funeral home?
5. What gift does Helen give Joan at Bruce’s funeral?
6. What is the shape of Bruce’s grave marker?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does the game of “airplane” that Bruce plays with Alison at the beginning of the novel establish a connection to a parent-child relationship from ancient myth?
2. What final question troubles Alison at the end of Chapter 1? Why might she answer this question in both the affirmative and the negative?
3. What leads Alison to worry that her sexual orientation had something to do with her father’s death?
4. What are some reasons that Bruce admired F. Scott Fitzgerald?
5. How did Bruce change after he and Helen got married?
6. Why did Bruce become a funeral director?
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