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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 poet does William quote in his description of being stuck on top of the mountain pass road when he his headed to Cedar City?

2. What is advertised on the business card that Mr. Watkins gives to William?

3. What branch of the military was William in when he hurt his leg?

4. Where does Barbara Pierre invite William to have lunch with her?

5. Where does William begin his trip?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does William learn from Kendrick Fritz?

2. What happens when William sleeps in his van on the campus of East Carolina University?

3. What does William discover in Nameless, Tennessee?

4. Describe the weather conditions as William drives across the Appalachian Mountains.

5. Describe William's encounter with Porfirio Sanchez.

6. Describe what William learns about Cajun music while in Louisiana.

7. What is Portal Paradise?

8. Is William able to find anyone to talk with in the Hopi Indian reservation?

9. Describe William's dinner at Swamp Guinea's Fish Lodge.

10. When does William begin to question his plan to travel across America?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss what William learns about race relations in the Deep South. How do the views and attitudes of Ray contrast with those of James and Charles? Why is William surprised by these contrasting viewpoints?

Essay Topic 2

Alice Venable Middleton of Smith Island says that she never got her "curiosity cured." Discuss how Alice shows her interest in the world and its changes. Do you agree or disagree that she is the perfect person for William to interview? Provide specific examples to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

What does William think about the desert of the southwest? What does he say about solitude during this part of his trip? How does the hitchhiker Porfirio provide him with company? Provide specific examples to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 705 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample