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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 John recall he and Boughton did as a prank while he was in seminary?

2. What does John encourage his son to do when he is an old man himself?

3. What confession does John make about Jack as part of a burden of guilt he feels?

4. What did John blame for confusion where doctrine is concerned?

5. What did Boughton tell John about the trumpet vines covering his house?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does John recall Boughton's parents?

2. Describe the relationship Jack had with a lower-class, uneducated girl.

3. What moves John to tears during his conversation at the church with Jack?

4. What is the content of the conversation that Jack and Lila have as John feigns being asleep?

5. What does John recall about how his grandfather was invited to speak at a town picnic?

6. How does John respond to Jack's question about his family moving to Gilead?

7. What are two memories of pranks that John and Boughton share on Boughton's porch?

8. How does John recall Jack's baptism?

9. Describe Della's family situation.

10. What is John's response to the possibility that there may be something approaching love between Lila and Jack?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the book, John's recollections influence his perceptions of the present. Describe three or four incidences of how events in John's past have colored his response to events happening in the present. And, conversely, events happening in the present cause him to reinterpret events of his past. Identify and discuss three or four of these accounts.

Essay Topic 2

John's wife and son remained unnamed for the majority of the book. His wife's name is heard only from the mouth of Jack Boughton late in the novel. Discuss why Robinson chose not to reveal these names, taking into consideration John's relationship with his immediate family and how he views the two in his own life.

Essay Topic 3

John and Jack have an extended conversation on pages 160 - 173. Discuss the nature of this conversation, the different points raised in the course of the conversation, while highlighting the presence of thematically important conflicts. Note, too, any significance to the fact that the conversation took place in the church - which seems to make conversations difficult.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 840 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample