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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. To whom does Jake think Frank should apologize and why?

2. Where is the private hospital located where Emil goes to recuperate?

3. How do Jake and Frank feel about their sister Ariel?

4. What object does Frank see sticking out of Danny's Uncle Warren's pocket?

5. What kind of animal does Officer Doyle blow up with the M-80 firecracker?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Frank so surprised when Officer Doyle asks him his opinion about this year's Minnesota Twins team and asks about his own experiences with baseball?

2. What are the reasons Officer Doyle gives for finding Bobby Cole's death suspicious?

3. What causes Frank to abruptly run away from the Indian man and to drag Jake along with him?

4. How does Frank feel about his older sister Ariel?

5. When Frank and Jake come upon the Indian man and the apparently lifeless man referred to as Skipper, the Indian man says, "Know what I like about railroad tracks? They're always there but they're always moving" (32). When Jake replies, "Just like a river" (32), why is Frank shocked at Jake's reply?

6. How does Gus' monologue about killing a man relate to the novel's title?

7. How is the character of Julia Brandt a foil to the character of Ruth Drum?

8. During Gus' and Frank's conversation about Nathan's experiences in the war, what two sources of information does Gus warn Frank against heeding?

9. Why is it such a significant moment when Nathan tells his sons, Frank and Jake, about the first dead body he saw in the war?

10. How does Frank convince his dad to give him the tire iron for the boys' walk home from the jail and what do they subsequently do with it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Krueger chooses to leave some mysteries in the novel unsolved for the reader, including Karl Brandt's death and Bobby Cole's death. Analyze the ambiguities within these two incidents and use your analysis to state the author's purpose in leaving some of the novel's mysteries unsolved.

Essay Topic 2

Choose one character from the novel. Discuss Krueger's use of the four characterization methods to depict this character: indirect description, direct description, revelation by self, and relation by others. How does Krueger use these methods to shape the reader's impression of the character?

Essay Topic 3

What type of character is Ruth Drum? Is she round or flat? Dynamic or static? Use concrete details to prove your answers to these two questions about Ruth's character. What function does she serve within the narrative as a means to help the author get across his desired messages?

(see the answer keys)

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