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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 position does Eliot hold with the Rosewater Fire Department?

2. Where is Eliot Rosewater educated?

3. Who is the author of Get With Child a Mandrake Root?

4. When Sylvia asks Eliot where he is calling from, how does he reply?

5. What does Eliot use as a kitchen in his office in Rosewater?

Short Essay Questions

1. Even though Eliot continues to exhibit signs of alcoholism, emotional distress, and mental illness neither his wife Sylvia nor his father the Senator do anything to help him. What reasons do each of them have for not acting to help Eliot?

2. Eliot keeps a ledger in his office in which he keeps important information about his work. What does he call his ledger, and what kinds of things are in it? What is an example of something Eliot would have in his ledger?

3. In Chapter Three, Eliot begins talking to people in front of a firehouse in Vashti, Texas. What does he identify as the main purpose of the Armed Forces in America?

4. In Chapter 1, we meet Norman Musahri, a lawyer. What else do we learn about Mushari? For whom does he work?

5. Who is Eliot Rosewater? What do we learn about him in the first chapter of the novel?

6. On the same day of calls from a suicidal man and Stelle Wakeby, Eliot receives a call from his father and does not recognize his father's voice. What are some of the things Senator Rosewater wants to talk to his son about, and how does the conversation end?

7. When he disappears for a week, what does Eliot do? Why does the law firm of McAlister, Robjent, Reed, and McGee hire a detective to find Eliot, and where does he find Eliot?

8. Who is listening on the other end of the conversation between Eliot and Sylvia? What does the person learn from the conversation to aid in the case to have Eliot declared insane?

9. What is the tone of the letter written by Eliot to his heir about the family history? How can you tell?

10. Describe Eliot's office in Rosewater. What unique characteristics does the office have? What services does Eliot provide for the people of Rosewater?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are two scenes that are high points in the novel: Eliot's argument with his father and his solution to the lawsuit he is facing. Which would you consider the climax of the novel and why?

Essay Topic 2

Senator Rosewater has pushed through a law called the Rosewater Law. He considers this to be his legislative masterpiece. Discuss the Rosewater Law and how it is important to the story.

Essay Topic 3

When the people of Rosewater learn of Eliot's trip to Indianapolis, they are certain he will not return. Contrast and compare the different reactions of the townspeople to Eliot's departure. What do they say to him? To each other? What are they fearful of and why?

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