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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 does Isaac use to commit the murder in Book One?

2. Why does Isaac return to the murder scene in Book Two?

3. How does Isaac know Daryl Foster?

4. How are Baron's friends described in Book Two?

5. Who is Harris's friend on the city council that is under investigation?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does the murder in Book One influence the characters of Isaac and Poe?

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

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

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

6. Where do Isaac and Poe encounter the three drifters in Book One? Who are the drifters and how are they described?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the events surrounding the murder that Isaac commits. Where does the murder take place? What events lead up to the murder? Do you think that Isaac is justified in committing the murder? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the character of Grace Poe in the novel. How is Grace described? What is her relationship like with her son? What is Grace's relationship like with Virgil? What is revealed of Grace's character through her actions in the story?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of decay in American Rust. How is this theme developed through character? How is the theme developed through setting? How does the author employ symbolism connected with this theme?

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