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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 does Eliot react to the scene in his apartment between himself and his father?

2. How does Kilgore Trout explain Eliot's devotion to volunteer fire departments?

3. Who are the men seated across from Eliot at the fountain?

4. How much is Fred Rosewater worth dead?

5. What did Eliot see on the copy of The American Investigator he found in his pocket?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has Eliot prepared for his trip to see Sylvia in Indianapolis? What is his night like before leaving for the trip?

2. Harry Pena and his sons are on a fishing boat which is visible from the dining room of The Weir. What do customers see from the vantage point of their windows? What does Harry do about this situation?

3. Amid one person after another coming up to him and saying goodbye and good luck, all people he seems not to know, Eliot goes to the magazine rack and chooses something to read on his trip to Indianapolis. What does he choose, and what is it about?

4. When Fred cannot finish the history of his family, which he has found atop the cupboard in the basement, he prepares to hang himself from a pipe in the basement. What happens to save Fred's life?

5. What book does Eliot keep hidden in his office, and why does he have such strong feelings about it?

6. Describe Caroline Rosewater's luncheon experience at the Weir. How is she treated? How does she feel?

7. During his father's visit, Eliot takes a call from someone in the town. What do the two of them discuss while his father is there listening?

8. Fred and Caroline Rosewater live in Pisquontuit, Rhode Island. Describe the town and the people in it.

9. In Chapter Nine, we meet Lila Buntline, Stewart and Caroline's daughter. What is Lila doing in the news store? How does she know Fred?

10. Who is Harry Pena, and what are his different jobs? How does he behave toward Fred? What information is revealed about Fred in their meeting?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Eliot's service in the Army. What two things happen to him while in the Army that ultimately change his life? Discuss the importance of both things.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the home of Caroline and Fred Rosewater. Where do they live? What is their house like? Compare their home to that of Eliot Rosewater, Fred's second cousin, and that of Amanita and Stewart Buntline. How do the three contrast with each other?

Essay Topic 3

In the letter Eliot writes to be given to his heir, he expresses strong feelings about government in America, about the Utopia the Founding Fathers hoped to create, and what has gone wrong. What are his opinions? How does he feel about having such a large amount of money?

(see the answer keys)

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