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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 is Willie's wife's profession?

2. With whom did Adam and Anne Stanton live as children?

3. Why do people come to hear Willie speak?

4. In what year does Willie first run for governor?

5. What happens to indicate that Lucy is not engaged in Willie's life?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jack's father mean when he shouts "Foulness" when Jack mentions Judge Irwin's name?

2. What happens at the school two years after the new school is built?q

3. Who was Jack find was the unexpected instigator in the deaths of Adam and Willie?

4. What leads Jack to explore the judge's interest in the American Electric Power Company?

5. What negative trait of Willie's is verified by Willie's behavior in the White impeachment scandal?

6. How do Willie's problem-solving tactics emerge after his son, Tom, has a car accident?

7. What does Jack recall about his childhood at the beginning of Chapter 3?

8. Jack is not the only character undergoing a radical shift in perspective. What happens to Willie after the football game injury which paralyzes his son, Tom?

9. What is Willie's reaction when Judge Irwin refuses to support a man Willie has chosen for a senate nomination?

10. What potential issues surround the contract being awarded to J.H. Moore?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 2, Willie is branded as a nigger lover. Explain what this term means. Why was it "acceptable" to use in 1922 and not tolerated at all today? Has society matured? Are people more sensitive? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the childhoods of Willie Stark and Jack Burden. How did Willie's life of hard work growing up on a farm make him the person he became? Would Willie have been different had he not entered politics? How did growing up relatively privileged affect Jack?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's use of the literary technique of flashbacks in the novel. What is the purpose of a flashback? Is the information gleaned from the flashbacks sufficient to flesh out the bones of the literary framework the author has established? Is the technique of a flashback and the resulting flash forward disconcerting to the reader, even though necessary?

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