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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 Susan think about the idea of Paul being away from his parents and learning self-reliance?

2. Who is the man sitting at the desk in Chapter 25?

3. What is Paul's answer when Spenser asks him whether there is any place that he has always wanted to go, that no one would take him, that he was afraid to ask?

4. What problem are Susan and Spenser trying to solve in Chapter 23?

5. Why does Mel's access to "leg breakers" concern Spenser?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Spenser send Paul and Patty to Susan's house in Chapter 13?

2. How does Susan feel about Spenser sending Paul and Patty to her house in Chapter 13?

3. Why is the discussion that Spenser and Paul have in Chapter 21 about the rules of fighting an important one?

4. Why does Spenser agree to keep Paul after the kidnapping scare when Patty is taken hostage?

5. Is Spenser's plan to blackmail the Giacomins in order to make them pay for Paul's education and living expenses, as well as staying away from him a good plan? Why? Why not?

6. As evidenced in his conversation with Spenser in Chapter 20, why is Paul curious in relation to why his parents think the way that they do?

7. Why does Paul's revelation that he would like to be a dancer important?

8. How is the reader likely to feel when Patty shows up to take Paul home in Chapter 22?

9. Does Susan make a good point about parental rights in Chapter 23? Why? Why not?

10. In Chapter 17, Paul asks Spenser why he cannot simply leave him alone. Spenser replies that he cannot leave him alone because everyone in his life has left him alone and it has not done him any good. He also tells Paul that his goal is to help him become a better person. What does Spenser mean by that?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Paul Giacomin is at the heart of this story. He is the boy whose parents fight over him as if he were property; and the boy whom Spenser fights for in order to save his life. Explore Paul's character. Look through the text and use examples from it to support your ideas in relation to the kind of a person that Paul was before he met Spenser, and what kind of a person he was when he left Spenser to go to school.

Essay Topic 2

Spenser is the protagonist (hero, good guy) of the story. He is a complex character with many personality aspects who makes some very tough decisions throughout the book. What makes Spenser the hero of the story, even though he makes some decisions which could be viewed as morally problematic? Use instances from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

This story takes place in Boston, and all of the characters are Boston residents. The characters in "Early Autumn" do not speak with any kind of accent, most notably the "Bahstahn" accent. Why does Parker not have his characters speak with any accents?

(see the answer keys)

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