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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 is "Blue Canoe?"

2. Buffalo Bill has how many known victims?

3. What is Buffalo Bill's routine with his victims?

4. Dr. Chilton hints to Dr. Lecter that two people are having an affair. What are the names of those two people?

5. What is Jame Gumb's physical description?

Short Essay Questions

1. What creature does Clarice compare Dr. Chilton to and why?

2. What happens to frustrate Clarice after she learns of Catherine Martin's abduction by Buffalo Bill?

3. Why would Dr. Lecter be offended by being interviewed by a FBI trainee? How does he control the environment around him? How does he control the conversation with Clarice?

4. Why is Dr. Lecter called "Hannibal the Cannibal"? Give an example. Does his viciousness tell you anything about his psychoses?

5. How does Senator Martin try to affect Buffalo Bill psychologically?

6. What does Crawford think about Dr. Lecter's eerily accurate prediction that the girl would be scalped? How does Crawford feel about Dr. Lecter's other, unsubstantiated prediction?

7. Why does Dr. Lecter refer to Clarice as a "cheap redneck, one generation out of the mines"? What might he hope to accomplish by insulting her?

8. What benefits comprise the proposal package that Clarice puts together for Dr. Lecter in Senator Martin's name, and what is unique about the vacation spot?

9. Where does the FBI go to try to find out Buffalo Bill's true identity, and what is the result?

10. What did Dr. Lecter do for a living before he was imprisoned as a serial killer? What repercussions might be the result of his previous employment?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One theme of this book is control and the loss or lack of it. Which characters seem to have control over their own situations, if any? Which characters are defined by their lack of control, and how do they work to gain control? Does control seem to be important to the FBI? The senator? Jame Gumb? Dr. Chilton? Clarice? Dr. Lecter? Jack Crawford? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

What events lead to Clarisse's discovery that Buffalo Bill is making a suit out of the skin he takes from his victims? Where was she when she had this realization? What specific occurrence leads to this theory?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapters 12 and 13, Crawford's treatment of Clarisse at Potter's Funeral Home while inspecting the body of Buffalo Bill's latest victim is carefully scripted, though this is not apparent to Clarisse at the time. How does Clarisse feel when Crawford asks to see the sheriff to speak "man-to-man"? How does Clarisse find out that Crawford had ulterior motives in getting the deputy to speak to him alone? What is her reaction to this? Does Clarisse have a point, and do you think that point is taken?

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