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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Grace dream of doing in Book One?
(a) Getting a job at the factory.
(b) Getting married to Virgil.
(c) Going away or to school.
(d) Getting married to Murray.

2. Who among the drifters that appear at the car factory is described as a seven-foot-tall Swede?
(a) Clay.
(b) Otto.
(c) Murray.
(d) Hans.

3. How did Isaac's mother die?
(a) She was executed.
(b) She was in a car accident.
(c) She was murdered.
(d) She committed suicide.

4. What does Isaac realize he left at the murder scene in Book One?
(a) His jacket.
(b) His wallet.
(c) His backpack.
(d) His watch.

5. How is Poe's car described in the narrative?
(a) Rugged and hardy.
(b) Shiny and seductive.
(c) Old and rusty.
(d) Freshly refinished.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did Harris encounter Virgil in the act of stealing?

2. How does Isaac know Daryl Foster?

3. What does Grace do for a living?

4. How does Isaac make his way out of town when he first disappears in Book Two?

5. What is the name of Poe's father?

Short Essay Questions

1. What political struggles and conflicts plague Bud Harris in Book Two?

2. How would you describe the atmosphere of the setting and characters in Book One?

3. What does Poe reveal to Lee about the murder in Book Two? How does she respond?

4. In Book Two, the language surrounding Isaac's narrative begins to transition. What purpose does this transition serve?

5. What symbolism surrounds the murder that occurs in Book One of American Rust?

6. Where does Isaac plan to travel in Book One? Why?

7. How is the character of Billy Poe described in Book One? What are his circumstances in the beginning of the novel?

8. How is Isaac English described when his character is introduced in Book One? What are Isaac's circumstances in the beginning of the novel?

9. How is Billy Poe's introduction to the Fayette Prison described in Book Two?

10. How does the theme of fatalism apply to Grace and Billy Poe in Book One?

(see the answer keys)

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