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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 does John do as he walks down the streets of his town at one or two a.m.?

2. What is the shape of the weather vane on the steeple of John's church?

3. What does John tell his son he regrets?

4. What two biblical characters does John's father compare the two of them to on their journey to Kansas?

5. Why does John Ames tell his son that he might be gone sometime?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how John learned scripture.

2. What are some of John's comments on water?

3. What are John's thoughts on the Lord's Supper? How does his son figure into this account?

4. What are the basic facts about John's first marriage?

5. What does John learn about his grandfather and his encounter with a Union soldier?

6. Describe the moment of communion John experiences in the ruins of the burned-out church.

7. What is the story John's father tells him about John Brown's mule?

8. How does John describe being in the world at night?

9. What are John's feelings about baseball, and what incidents contributed to those feelings?

10. Briefly recount the story John's grandfather and his friends used to tell about the citizens of a little abolitionist town.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

C. S. Lewis wrote a partial autobiography, "Surprised by Joy," in 1955. This same concept, of being surprised by feelings of joy, elation, or even peace, is a common thread in "Gilead." Describe evidences in John's life that show that many times he was "surprised by joy," and how this gives understanding into both his character and how he responds to various situations in the book.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book, John's recollections influence his perceptions of the present. Describe three or four incidences of how events in John's past have colored his response to events happening in the present. And, conversely, events happening in the present cause him to reinterpret events of his past. Identify and discuss three or four of these accounts.

Essay Topic 3

John seems to harbor some resentment to the fact that he is Jack Boughton's namesake. Discuss why this is the case, how this resentment manifests itself, and how he deals with the responsibility of helping forge Jack's character.

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This section contains 862 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample