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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 Poe learn happened to his cell-mate while he is in solitary?

2. What causes the fight between Poe and his cell-mate in Book Four?

3. What does the prisoner demand from Poe's tray in Book Three?

4. Where does Poe hang out with the prison group that is coddling him in Book Three?

5. What does Harris promise to Grace in the end of Book Four?

Short Essay Questions

1. What information does Glen Patacki relate to Harris in Book Three?

2. What does Isaac do at the Wal-Mart store in Book Four?

3. How has Billy Poe's character evolved in Book Four? What has led to the changes in Poe's character?

4. What do Isaac and Baron do upon arriving in the outskirts of Detroit in Book Three?

5. What does Bud Harris discuss with his friends Riley, Chester, and Frank at the Dead End bar in Book Four?

6. What foreshadowing is revealed through Poe's inner monologues in Book Four?

7. What is foreshadowed by the conversation between Grace and Harris in Book Four?

8. How is the theme of sacrifice explored in Book Four of American Rust?

9. How has Isaac English's character evolved in Book Four? How does the author illustrate the changes in Isaac?

10. What do Grace and Harris discuss when he visits her in Book Four?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and analyze the character of Poe in American Rust. How is Poe's background described? Where is Poe living when his character is introduced? How does Poe's character evolve in the story? Where is Poe in the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the relationship between Isaac and Poe in American Rust. How do these characters know one another? How would you define their relationship? How does this relationship evolve in the course of the story? How are Isaac and Poe alike? How are they different?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's use of irony in American Rust. What are examples of situational irony in the narrative? What are examples of verbal and dramatic irony? What purpose does irony serve in each context?

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