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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. Who pulls Sims Addison over after a night of drinking?

2. In Chapter 25, why does the narrator say he continued to watch Miles and Jonah?

3. What kind of car was the unnamed narrator driving the night of Missy's death?

4. What was Sims' drink of choice?

5. Who performs a field neuro exam on Brian?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 26, what does Charlie do when Miles reports for work first thing in the morning?

2. In Chapter 29, why does Brian suddenly feel it is important to tell Sarah to make Miles back off of Otis Timson? What does Brian reveal to the reader in this chapter?

3. In Chapter 28, why does the unnamed narrator say he finally felt as though he could stop watching the Ryan home? Why is this?

4. In Chapter 24, what is Miles doing when Jonah comes home from school? What does he tell Sarah when she later comes to the house?

5. What detail of Brian's story finally gets through to Miles and makes him realize that it was only an accident?

6. What does Miles do during the arrest of Otis Timson that could come back to haunt him later?

7. In Chapter 20, where does Charlie decide to go in order to try to help Miles out of the mess he has created for himself?

8. How does Miles react to Jonah's questions about his mother when he finds Miles watching home videos?

9. How does Sarah react to the revelation that Brian killed Missy Ryan?

10. What threats against Miles does the district attorney and the Timson family attorney make to Charlie?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Sarah invite Miles and Jonah to have Thanksgiving with her family? What do Sarah's parents think of Miles and Jonah? What is Sarah's relationship like with Brian, her brother? How does Brian react to meeting Miles and Jonah? What explanation does the reader infer from this reaction? Later, what makes Miles think he might like to marry Sarah someday? How does this realization make Miles feel about Missy? What impact might this have on Jonah? Is Sarah aware of the depth of Miles' feelings? How does the reader know this?

Essay Topic 2

What happens to Miles when he hears Sims Addison's accusations against Otis Timson? How does Miles react to Charlie's insistence that he stay out of the investigation? Why does Miles go to Sarah with his frustrations? How does Sarah react? What does this tell Miles about Sarah's concern in the situation? What impact will these new accusations have on Miles and Sarah's relationship? Does this imply that Miles is not over Missy? Does this imply that Miles does not love Sarah?

Essay Topic 3

Who is Miles Ryan? Why is he having trouble sleeping at the beginning of the novel? What is Miles thinking about? What has his life been like since the death of his wife? Why has the death of his wife touched his life so profoundly? Why does Miles worry about his son, Jonah? Why does Miles think he is not the type of man to be alone? What does this say about Miles' feelings for his wife, Missy? How do the opening chapters suggest that Miles has changed as a person since his wife's death? Are these changes good? Bad? How have they impacted Miles' life overall?

(see the answer keys)

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