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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 did Rick go home for in the year that he was in Haiti?

2. What kind of questions did Rick often find himself answering to the students at Harvard?

3. Why do the soldiers of Haiti randomly shoot the poor?

4. In writing about sports, what did Rick come to realize were the only types of stories that he wanted to write?

5. What did Rick's new friends at Harvard teach him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the stories that Rick experienced in Clearwater?

2. At the early age of twenty where was Rick writing and what was he writing about?

3. How did Rick fare at Harvard?

4. What did Rick find on his second visit to Haiti?

5. Who was the Serial Diner, and what did he teach Rick?

6. At Thanksgiving in the new house, what did Rick and Sam learn?

7. What did Rick learn in Birmingham as he worked for the paper?

8. What experiences did Rick have in Miami?

9. What happened when the American soldiers finally came to Haiti?

10. What was the riot like that Rick experienced in Miami and how did it affect him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After the riots in Miami, Sean kept the rock as did Rick for a while until they couldn't keep it any more. What is the significance of the rock? What made them keep it? What made them get rid of it?

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?

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