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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. Who saves Inman's companion from being shot in a standoff with a drunk?

2. What does the blind man sell outside the hospital?

3. How is Teague dressed?

4. How does Inman escape his ordeal after leaving the farmer's home?

5. Why did Ada believe she was the product of a marriage of convenience?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Inman do with a saw he and Veasey find?

2. To whom does Junior sell Inman and Veasey for $5 a head?

3. What surprises Ada about the circumstances of her conception and birth?

4. What does Junior do when he finds Inman in his wife's arms?

5. Why does Ruby put a trap in the corn field? Why does Ada instruct her to pad the teeth on the trap?

6. Who is Balis? What manuscript is he working on?

7. What did Inman find on the battlefield that he kept hidden throughout his medical ordeal?

8. What is the main topic of conversation when Ada and Ruby visit Monroe's friend, Mrs. McKennet?

9. What story does Ada read to Ruby? Which character reminds Ruby of her father?

10. What happens when Inman attempts to cross a river using the canoe of a young Indian woman?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the Trail of Tears. What was the Trail of Tears? How does the Trail of Tears compare to the actions of the Home Guard? How did the Trail of Tears affect the Indians? How did it affect Inman and other character's sympathetic to the Indians? Why does the author mention the Trail of Tears repeatedly in this novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss morality. Veasey is a preacher, but he appears to have no morals when it comes to sex and women. Why does Veasey begin a relationship with Laura when he is engaged to another woman? Why does Veasey want to kill Laura? Why does Inman not allow this murder? Why does Veasey later get into a fight with a prostitute over money? What do these actions say about Veasey's morals?

Essay Topic 3

Death is a theme of the novel. Why is death a theme of the novel? Why is Monroe obsessed with death? Is Monroe obsessed with his own death, or the death's of other people? How did the death of Monroe's wife affect his feelings about death? Is Inman obsessed with death? Why is Inman convinced every day will be his last?

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