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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. How old had Larry been on the night of his date with Cindy?

2. What object does Larry come home to find "waiting" in his house in the first sentence of the novel?

3. What kind of mask is the masked man wearing when he confronts Larry?

4. Before his death, M and M had been known to local authorities as what type of criminal?

5. What kind of weather is said to have occurred the night before the novel's first events?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way does Franklin compare and contrast the respective vehicles belonging to Silas and to Larry?

2. What event occurs that prompts Silas to go check on Larry?

3. What is Silas's reaction when Larry tells a story about Cecil's reckless use of fireworks?

4. What event occurs that keeps Silas from finding gunshot Larry himself and whom does he send instead?

5. Describe the character of Larry's father Carl.

6. What details does Franklin use in order to indicate to the reader just how small Cabot, Mississippi really is and how it functions as such?

7. In what way, if any, does Carl finally address with Larry the subject of the fight over the rifle?

8. In Chapter 8, at the diner, Silas tells Angie a variety of "things he'd never said out loud" (141). Name several of these.

9. What had been the impetus for Silas and his mother's move out of south Chicago?

10. Describe French's character.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the novel Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 2

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within the novel Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Trace the characterization arc of Silas’s character throughout the novel. Discuss whether Silas is a round or flat character and whether he is a static or dynamic character.

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