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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. How old is the person who leaves home with a pistol in Chapter 1?

2. What brooch did the psychologist wear during Zara's first session, but not Zara's second session?

3. How many feet does Roger say are missing from the measurements between the walls of the apartment?

4. In Chapter 12, what does the older policeman's wife call him?

5. In Chapter 37, who went into the closet to sit down?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Jack have nightmares, and what does he do about them?

2. What happened to break up the bank robber's marriage?

3. Why is the man in the rabbit head in the bathroom?

4. What happened during Ro and Julia's first date?

5. Why does the narrator say that the real estate agent was not doing a good job?

6. What happened after the hostages left the apartment?

7. What did Jack do when he was the first police officer into the apartment where the bank robber held people hostage?

8. Why were the owners of the other apartment on the same floor as the apartment where the hostage drama was going on getting a divorce?

9. What type of excuses might an addict's child come up with as excuses for their parent?

10. What have been some of Ro's obsessions?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the novel, some characters are more thoroughly described than others. Who are some characters that are merely named in passing or have a minor role in the novel? What is the importance of these flat characters to the story line? In what way do these characters make the main characters more colorful or interesting? When there is conflict, what type of role do these flat characters play?

Essay Topic 2

Jim and Jack are thinking of their wife/mother as the hostage situation unfolds. Why do Jim and Jack think about their wife/mother during the hostage situation? How and why do they try to do things that they know she would have approved of?

Essay Topic 3

The narrator inserts himself into the story. How does the narrator engage with readers? How does the author use the narrator’s didactic commentary to explain plotlines?

(see the answer keys)

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