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. Who calls Silas on the phone during the moment he is shocked by one particular photograph in Larry's house?

2. What is the outcome of Larry's encounter with the masked man?

3. What law enforcement position does Silas hold in town?

4. What does Silas discover underneath the place where his bed had used to be within the cabin in the woods?

5. In which community had M and M lived before his death?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. Discuss a moment in the text when Franklin causes the reader to wonder about Larry's role in the murders he is suspected by the community as having committed.

10. What is the symbolism of the mail truck?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a critical essay about the novel Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter while using the critical power theory lens of feminist theory. Use textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the novel's treatment of gender roles, violence against women or girls, female empowerment, misogyny's role within society, or any other issues related to feminist theory that can be found in the novel.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Sensory details are used frequently by Franklin in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used by Franklin serve Franklin's creation of vivid characters.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,233 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample