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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 did the weather make the war worse in Korea?

2. What did Margaret mean when she told Sam and Mark that Rick is "travelin'"?

3. What kind of a man is Rick's bother, Sam?

4. What was the name of Rick's first reading group at school?

5. What does Rick hope his story will accomplish?

Short Essay Questions

1. What male influence did Rick and his brother's have in their lives?

2. Why was Rick one of the usual suspects after a crime was committed, and how did he react to the whole situation?

3. What happened when Rick went to visit his father for the last time?

4. What was the area like and what were the people like where Rick and his parents grew up?

5. How poor was Margaret while raising her small children?

6. Why does Rick miss his grandmother's death?

7. What did the Bragg men talk about on the front porch over whiskey after dinner?

8. What did the poor black boy bring to Rick's family, and what does Rick think about it now that he is an older man?

9. How did Rick react to his father's death?

10. What kind of work did the boys do for their Uncle Ed? What did Rick learn from this work? What did Sam learn from this work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Margaret had some small pictures of Charles which Rick looked at now and again as a boy. At one point he said, "It hurts my eyes to look at them for long." Explain the quote in regard to Rick's relationship to his father.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the historical implications of the book. How does the time and place create the lives and the choices of the people in the book?

Essay Topic 3

What drew Rick to spend his life writing stories about human tragedy? Did writing these types of stories resolve his inner issues? What did he learn about life from these stories?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 950 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample