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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 does Henny escape from the house?

2. How has the trip changed Sam?

3. What does Josephine Pollit carry on about?

4. What does Sam think Louie's reaction will be if he reads her poetry?

5. What does Saul Pilgrim talk about when he comes to visit?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is it that upsets Sam during his homecoming celebration?

2. How has the relationship between Sam and Henny changed by the time of Cathleen's eighteenth birthday?

3. Describe Henny's second visit to Bert Anderson.

4. Describe the atmosphere at the celebration for Sam's homecoming.

5. Describe Louie's experience in a new school.

6. Describe Henny's stay at Hassie's house.

7. Describe the reading of David Collyer's will.

8. How do the Pollits end up in Spa House?

9. Why doesn't Sam let Louie go when she says she wants to leave?

10. How does Sam react when Louie tells him that she killed Henny?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In what way is 'The Man Who Loved Children' an American book? In what ways is it not? How does the book define the American way of life, and how does the book fulfill its own definition? If it is not American, what is it? Does it lay out terms for what is not American as well?

Essay Topic 2

How are we to take the murder at the end of 'The Man Who Loved Children'? Is this a crime Louie will lament for the rest of her days? Was it somehow self-defense? Was it an uncomfortable authorial imposition on a narrative that wasn't ending neatly?

Essay Topic 3

Write a character sketch of the author based on his style and content. What values does he hold dear? What are his hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think he is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.

(see the answer keys)

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