View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Dude Botley view Buddy's mixture of hymns and blue?

2. What survives the fire?

3. What is the weather like during the brawl?

4. Why does Buddy have the cleanest skin in town?

5. Buddy used to convince ______ to pose for Bellocq.

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Buddy feel about coming back home?

2. How did the fight between Buddy and Pickett start?

3. How does Buddy feel about John Robichaux?

4. At the end of Chapter 2, is a new crisis inevitable? Why?

5. Is Buddy helpless? How?

6. What is the image of scrambling over barbed wire meant to portray?

7. What is Buddy's relationship with Bellocq like?

8. Does Buddy have good self-esteem? How?

9. Is Bellocq unstable?

10. In his description of the fight with Pickett, how does Buddy interrupt himself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of the primary characters in "Coming Through Slaughter" are musicians. Music weaves itself into all their lives and into the narrative. Discuss the use of music in the book and how it influences characters and the narrative.

Essay Topic 2

"Coming Through Slaughter" is a work if fiction, but relies on historical figures. Discuss how Ondaatje uses history in his fiction. What is his intention? What does it add to the narrative? To what end is this tool?

Essay Topic 3

Truth in "Coming Through Slaughter" is at times obscured by characters' egos and self-perception. Discuss what impact the reader's discovery of truth plays on the experience of the book and the characters.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 668 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample