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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. How have Raymo and Frank been making money in recent years?

2. After leaving Fort Worth, what country does Oswald's travel visa expire in?

3. What skill does Bannister assure Mackey that Dave Ferrie can provide?

4. What was Marguerite's job that she was fired from in New Orleans?

5. What does Branch find strange about the information sent him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lee read about in New Orleans?

2. What initial actions do the CIA men take for their plan on April 17th?

3. Why is Lee banned from the Sproul house?

4. What do Win, Parmenter, and Mackey discuss in 17 April?

5. Discuss how Branch sees death surrounding Oswald?

6. How is Lee isolated in the first chapter of the novel?

7. What does George de Mohrenschildt tell Parmenter about Oswald in this chapter?

8. Why is Lee Oswald punished before shipping out?

9. What plans does Parmenter tell Mackey on May 20th?

10. Who are the exiles on May 20th?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the character of Dave Ferrie. What are the defining physical and psychological characteristics of this individual? What role does he play in the novel and in the plot to kill Kennedy? How does his relationship with Lee Oswald shift and develop over the course of the narrative? Discuss Ferrie's portrayal as a personification of perverted patriotism.

Essay Topic 2

In Libra, the author makes a clear statement regarding a conspiracy to kill Kennedy. He also includes characters in the text that illustrate the ire toward Kennedy felt by others in the country. Write an essay about three individuals who represent possible threats to the President. What is each character's specific problem with Kennedy? How does he express this outrage, and why is he ultimately not a central planner of the killing?

Part 1) Parmenter

Part 2) Astorina

Part 3) Bannister

Essay Topic 3

As the catalyst for the Kennedy assassination, Win Everett is a strangely benign and ambiguous figure. In an essay, discuss the grievances he expresses regarding the Kennedy administration. What does he want his fake assassination to achieve? Based on these goals, does Everett seem left or right in his political leanings? Is he an inherently violent man?

(see the answer keys)

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