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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 is the bar that Grace goes to in Book Four to forget her troubles?

2. What store does Isaac go to shop at in Book Four?

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

4. What does the black prisoner call Poe when he approaches him in the cafeteria in Book Three?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is significant about Isaac's use of the phrase "Badge of Honor" in Book Four?

2. What leads up to the cafeteria fight between Poe and another inmate in Book Three?

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

4. What leads up to the conflict between Poe and his cell-mate in Book Four? What is the outcome of the conflict?

5. How is the theme of decay illustrated in Book Three of American Rust?

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

7. What is illustrated through the theft of Isaac's money in Book Three?

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

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

10. What is the resulting outcome of Poe's fight in the cafeteria in Book Three?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Discuss Henry English's circumstances in the novel. How did Henry become injured? What are the extent of his injuries? What leads Henry to kill himself at the end of the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss Isaac's journey in the narrative. Where does Isaac travel to and how does he get there? Whom does Isaac meet along his journey? How does Isaac's journey change him as a character?

(see the answer keys)

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