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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. Dexter explains that "Rita was merely my ______, a silly kid's costume I wore on weekends to hide the fact that I was the kind of person who did the things that this other interesting fellow was now doing and I wasn't."

2. In Chapter 1, where has the narrator been hiding?

3. Captain Matthews tells LaGuerta that ______ is going to maintain a peripheral involvement in this case.

4. LaGuerta asks Dexter ______ times if he had seen the driver of the refrigerated truck.

5. According to Dexter, the crime lab gang does not wear ______.

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Dexter know someone has been inside his home? What is damaged or missing inside Dexter's home?

2. Why does Dexter attend the Metro's seventy-two hour meeting? Who is unhappy that Dexter is at the meeting? Explain.

3. What does Dexter do on his date with Rita that upsets her? What is Dexter's reaction to the situation? What is he thinking about?

4. What are the priest's final words? Why do you think he says this?

5. Why does Dexter follow the refrigerated truck? What happens after the truck driver realizes that Dexter has been following him?

6. Describe in detail the process by which Dexter captures his first victim of the novel. Where does he take his victim?

7. Whose point of view the story is told from? How is this point of view useful in understanding the overall meaning of the novel?

8. Dexter states that he has a small reputation for hunches, what does he mean? Why is he capable of having such hunches?

9. After much consideration, what is Dexter's hypothesis of the Tamiami Trail Killer's reason for not finishing the cutting of his victim? To whom does he tell his hypothesis to? Does Dexter think the Tamiami Trail Killer will kill again? Explain.

10. What is the relationship between Deborah and Detective LaGuerta? How does LaGuerta display her dislike in Deborah?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Pick a character from the novel in which a character's success in achieving goals depends on keeping a secret and divulging it only at the right moment. Briefly explain the necessity for secrecy and how the character's choice to reveal or keep the secret affects the plot and contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

Essay Topic 2

Distinguish the character of Brian to that of Dexter. Explain their similarities and differences as detailed in the text.

Essay Topic 3

Select a scene from the novel that you find most memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the scene, explain its relationship to the work and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.

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