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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. Where does St. Jean cut herself?

2. What title had Sunset Harkless held at the time of his death?

3. From what country does St. Jean come?

4. From what state do the Velmont Vipers originate?

5. To which of the following does the author dedicate the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why had Nile been an older college student?

2. In the novel, what is an HMC?

3. How is being Influenced described in the text?

4. How does Forest Worley’s conception of the bloodsport differ from his father’s?

5. What cash value accrues to a Blood Point?

6. For what crime had Thurwar been convicted?

7. What is the greatest extent of freedom any participant in the bloodsport can experience while still in its programs?

8. Why does Thurwar eschew entrance music?

9. What is the purpose of the silence enforced on Young’s inmate population?

10. What is the thesis of “Nowhere Near as Bad” in the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Typically, an epigraph is expected to speak to or set the tone for the work it introduces. Does the epigraph of Chain-Gang All-Stars do so for the present novel? How or how not?

Essay Topic 2

Section divisions, their titles, and chapter numbering / division schema are all components of paratext. That is, they are not part of the text but are associated with it closely and affect its meaning. What significance, if any, accrues to the chapter-naming scheme at work in Chain-Gang All-Stars? If there is significance, how does that significance manifest? If there is not, what in the novel supports the paratextual divisions that are in place?

Essay Topic 3

Readerly attention focuses on the following comment: “It was hard to forget the things that hurt you. You didn't often forget the shape of your cage” (52). What might account for that attention? How might it do so? What in the text and in experience lead you to such an idea?

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This section contains 559 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample