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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. When did Stavros die?

2. Why did Robby go to this place?

3. What is different about the trip John makes to the prison in 'Doing Time II'?

4. Where does Robby plan to go, after Chicago?

5. What made Robby good at this job?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Robby's relationship with Tanya.

2. What does Robby say is the purpose of educate?

3. How did the botched job feel wrong from the start, according to Robby?

4. What happened when John took a shortcut to the penitentiary?

5. Describe Robby's meeting with Johnny-Boy.

6. How does Robby characterize the ghetto mentality?

7. How did Robby come to believe that Stavros had a gun?

8. What is it about the prison workers that makes John mad?

9. How does John describe Robby's arrest after the drug deal in Detroit?

10. What do Robby and his crew do after the robbery?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

According to John Wideman, Robby is locked up like an animal. What other metaphors are common to "Brothers and Keepers", and what does the web of metaphorical associations tell us about Wideman and his ideas about Robby's incarceration? Does he treat the idea playfully? Is he deadly serious about it? Does he try to magnify the significance of it through metaphor? Does he try to diminish it or domesticate it?

Essay Topic 2

How does John characterize his brother? What literary techniques does he use to bring his brother to life as a literary character? How does his characterization change throughout the course of the memoir, as he writes one draft and then another? What does John learn about himself and his brother in the process of trying to capture this story in writing?

Essay Topic 3

Who is the ideal audience for "Brothers and Keepers"? What kinds of lessons does it teach, and what kind of life and ideas does it describe? Who would this account appeal to? What kinds of courses would this book be perfect for? Where else could it be added to a curriculum?

(see the answer keys)

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