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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 Merry teach along with revolutionary ideas to Cuban refugees?

2. What is Bill Orcutt's wife's name?

3. What kind of business of Dawn's had Swede sold a year after Merry's disappearance?

4. How many vows of renunciation does Merry say she has taken in the book?

5. What does Dawn blame along with Swede for her poor condition after Merry's disappearance?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lou say he is ashamed of Jerry for in Chapter 7?

2. How does Sheila explain her reason for taking Merry in, to Swede in Chapter 9?

3. How is Bill Orcutt described in Chapter 7?

4. What does Swede ponder about when thinking of Rita stealing his money?

5. How does Swede describe Barry Umanoff and Marcia Schwartz's marriage?

6. How does Merry live as a Jain?

7. Why did Dawn choose to raise cattle according to the narrator?

8. How is Swede's time as a marine described in Chapter 5?

9. What is the nature of Lou's discussion regarding the downfall of Newark in Chapter 8?

10. What does Jessie do to Lou at the end of the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the major factors to create Merry's militant actions is the impact of Swede's kiss to Merry as a child.

Part 1) What is telling of Merry based on her request that her father kiss her like he would her mother?

Part 2) What about Swede's sudden pullback after he had kissed Merry as a child could have caused her militant behavior later in life?

Part 3) What about Swede's inability to understand the impact his kiss had on Merry suggests he is unable to relate to others in his life?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the character Dawn and Marcia. What do the differences in these two characters' ideologies suggest about the natures of their characters?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the character Merry. What is telling about the true nature of Merry based on her non-conformist choices like being militant or becoming a Jain?

(see the answer keys)

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