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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Jones's business is successful, what does he want to construct?
(a) A pleasure yacht.
(b) A house by the sea.
(c) A high-class hotel.
(d) A golf course.

2. To leave the ship, Jones dresses up as a woman. What does he wear?
(a) The clothes of a Spanish dancer and a Dutch peasant.
(b) The dress of a girl from Mere Catherine's house.
(c) A purple dress forgotten by a previous traveler.
(d) The mantilla of a flamenco dancer.

3. Why is Jones proud of his expansive liquor traveling case?
(a) He worked six months to be able to afford it.
(b) He won it on a bet with some soldiers in Burma.
(c) It was his mother's last gift to him.
(d) It was given to him in his father's will.

4. As Brown and young Philipot converse near the hotel pool, what does Philipot reveal that he is obsessed with?
(a) The chance to avenge his uncle's death.
(b) A Bren gun and training.
(c) An important government job.
(d) The opportunity to shoot a Tonton Macoute.

5. When Jones appears at the hotel in the middle of the night, drenched and drunk, why is he afraid?
(a) Concasseur has begun investigating his business plan.
(b) Several Tontons Macoute have appeared at his house.
(c) The president has begun a search for him.
(d) The police have issued a warrant for his arrest.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do Brown and Jones sleep in the cemetery until daybreak?

2. When Brown, Smith, and the Secretary for Social Welfare arrive at Duvalierville, who is the only person in sight?

3. As Luigi the Italian is gambling, why he is depressed?

4. What has Jones never seen before?

5. When Mrs. Smith appears on the porch, what is she wearing?

Short Essay Questions

1. While lying in bed in the Hotel Trianon, Martha notes to brown that their relationship is no longer an adventure. What are the signs of this change? What are their choices for the future?

2. Though Brown does not want to board the Medea for a last drink with the purser, he feels attached to the ship and the memories there. What does this say about Brown's loneliness? Is he happy alone in his hotel?

3. Brown feels that the happiest moment he spent with Martha was when they lay outside on the grass, talking. How does this compare to his initial feelings about the relationship? What does this moment portend about the future of their relationship?

4. The night before he takes Jones out of Port-au-Prince, Brown wanders through his empty hotel. What does it reveal to the reader about Brown's personality? What is the effect of this scene?

5. When Brown attends the Voodoo ceremony with Joseph, several white-wrapped bodies are held close to the flame so that the skin burns. What is the effect of this scene? What is its possible antecedent?

6. When Jones and Brown board the Medea so Jones can ask for asylum, Brown describes the ship's captain like a judge. What is the effect of this appearance? Is this the first time a judge figure has appeared in the book? How does this contrast to Haitian culture?

7. When Mr. Smith, Brown, and the Secretary for Social Welfare survey Duvalierville with the purpose of building a vegetarian center, the only person they see is a justice of the peace. What is the irony of this man?

8. Why do Mr. and Mrs. Smith refer several times to their experience in Nashville? Brown wonders this himself, when Mrs. Smith references that incident in order to win an argument with her husband.

9. What is the significance of saying Doctor Philipot's coffin is filled with bricks?

10. Why do the Smiths change their minds about opening a vegetarian center? How does the Secretary for Social Welfare misunderstand Mr. Smith?

(see the answer keys)

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