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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. Who shoves his hands into Poe's pants during the fight at the car factory in Book One?
(a) Jesus.
(b) Otto.
(c) Juan.
(d) Murray.

2. From whose house is Poe walking home in the beginning of Book Two?
(a) From Lee's house.
(b) From Murray's house.
(c) From Otto's house.
(d) From Simon's house.

3. Where did Lee attend college?
(a) Princeton University.
(b) Brown University.
(c) Harvard University.
(d) Yale University.

4. How does Lee describe her marriage in Book One?
(a) Happy.
(b) Over.
(c) Exciting.
(d) Unhappy.

5. How is Poe's physique described in Book One?
(a) He is small and wispy.
(b) He is tall and skinny.
(c) He is tall and muscular.
(d) He is short and fat.

Short Answer Questions

1. What word from Book One refers to a temporary prohibition of activity?

2. What is Daryl Foster spraypainting on a wall when Isaac encounters him in Book Two?

3. Who among the drifters at the car factory is described as a smaller Mexican man?

4. What word from Book One refers to the path followed by a flying object moving under the action of given forces?

5. What does Grace dream of doing in Book One?

Short Essay Questions

1. What importance does the setting of American Rust play in the story?

2. What happens when Billy Poe is officially arrested for murder in Book Two?

3. Describe the murder in Book One. What leads up to the murder?

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

5. What is revealed through the encounter between Harris and Poe while Poe is in a holding cell in Book Two?

6. What takes place in Grace Poe's narrative in Book Two?

7. How does the theme of fatalism apply to Henry and Lee English in the novel?

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

9. What happens when Harris confronts Poe in the woods in Book Two?

10. Where does Isaac encounter the teenage thugs in Book Two? What happens when he encounters them?

(see the answer keys)

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