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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 many interchanges does the state highway board "graciously" grant to Weeb's development project?

2. Who makes Bobby's boat into the coffin that Bobby is buried in?

3. Who hires R.J. Decker to look into cheating at fishing tournaments?

4. After Decker and Skink leave Tile's car and begin heading through the woods, they are shot at. What kind of gun is used to fire upon Decker and Skink?

5. When Decker goes to Skink's house after Bobby's funeral, what does Skink offer to Decker for lunch?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Pickney asks Decker why he got a divorce, what does Decker say?

2. Why does Ott Pickney become the Davey Dillo mascot for the high school?

3. According to Weeb, why are round lakes fiscally irresponsible?

4. As Tile, Decker, and Skink are driving away from the slough after finding Pickney's body, why does Tile have Decker and Skink duck down when an oncoming car gets close?

5. What surprises Skink when he spies Bobby on the day that Bobby dies?

6. What are the demands which Weeb agrees to when confronted by Dickie in Weeb's hotel room in New Orleans?

7. After Skink releases all but two of the bass that were stashed in fish cages the night before the bass tournament in New Orleans, Skink clips the first two spines on the dorsal fins of the remaining two bass. Why?

8. Why does Decker not bother to hide his expensive camera equipment in his trailer home?

9. When Dickie goes to Weeb's hotel room in New Orleans, what is the rumor that Dickie has heard?

10. Why does Bobby Clinch like to drive in the fog?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In many ways, the novel is a series of contrasts designed to heighten the reader's awareness, draw the reader deeper into the story, and the intricacies of each of the story's characters. Identify at least three contrasts that are used in the novel. Describe these contrasts and determine how they impact the story's plot, as well as the reader's emotional involvement in the characters' lives. If these identified contrasts were not included in the story, what impact would their absence have on the storyline, the characters' development, and the readers' involvement?

Essay Topic 2

Bobby Clinch and Ott Pickney can be seen as kindred spirits. Although they are not quite the same, they share a number of similarities. Identify and describe these similarities. Then, based on your discussion of their similarities, identify the ways in which these two men's similarities facilitate the plot's development and moves the story forward.

Essay Topic 3

There are several characters introduced in the story who do not survive until the end. Identify at least three people killed as the novel progresses. Compare and contrast each of these deaths, being sure to indicate which character died, how the character died, who was responsible for the character's death, and what impact on the overall plot the character's death had. What could have - or should have - been learned from each of these deaths by the other characters?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 873 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample