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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. What does the narrator use to make a noose for his victim in Chapter 1?

2. What is Dexter's profession?

3. What is the tattoo of on the ankle of the murder victim in Chapter 3?

4. How did Dexter's foster mom die?

5. How many slides with dry drops of blood does Dexter have in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Rita. Who is she to Dexter? How is she the perfect girlfriend for Dexter?

2. How does Dexter know someone has been inside his home? What is damaged or missing inside Dexter's home?

3. Who makes an arrest in the Tamiami Trail Killer case? Why does this person think they have the right suspect?

4. Who is Dexter Morgan? Who is his father and what was his occupation? Describe the relationship Dexter has with his father.

5. Who is Detective LaGuerta? Do the other characters in the novel respect Detective LaGuerta? What is her relationship with Dexter like?

6. Whose point of view the story is told from? How is this point of view useful in understanding the overall meaning of the novel?

7. What is cell crystallization? How is it relevant to the murder victims?

8. Explain what Dexter believes the real Tamiami Trail Killer is going to do now that there has been an arrest in the murder case.

9. What does Dexter do on his date with Rita that upsets her? What is Dexter's reaction to the situation? What is he thinking about?

10. What is Detective LaGuerta's hypothesis as to why the Tamiami Trail Killer did not finish cutting his victim? What does Dexter find wrong with her hypothesis?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the major similarities and differences in a sequence of parallel or recurring events in Darkly Dreaming Dexter.

Essay Topic 2

Explain how the first chapter of Darkly Dreaming Dexter introduces the major theme of the piece. Use specific details from the first chapter to justify your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Pick a character from the novel in which a character's success in achieving goals depends on keeping a secret and divulging it only at the right moment. Briefly explain the necessity for secrecy and how the character's choice to reveal or keep the secret affects the plot and contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

(see the answer keys)

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