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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 Caroline leave out in the house that Fred compares to a pet anteater who sleeps in doorways?

2. How does Eliot describe how he feels to Charley as he leaves for the bus station?

3. Why did Caroline marry Fred?

4. To whom is Selena writing a letter while Fred is asleep on his boat?

5. What book does Eliot have hidden in his office?

Short Essay Questions

1. Caroline Rosewater and Amanita Buntline are two women from totally different parts of Pisquontuit. Why are Caroline and Amanita friends?

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

3. 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?

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

5. When Norman Mushari has driven around Pisquontuit looking for Fred to no avail, how does he spend the rest of his afternoon?

6. 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?

7. Eliot's father arrives at his office on the morning of his departure, and it is a complete surprise to Eliot. Eliot is happy to see his father, but the feelings are not mutual. Why has the Senator come to see his son? What happens during their visit?

8. 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?

9. How do the Buntlines have a servant, Selena, living in their home? How does Selena feel about living with the Buntlines?

10. Who is Fred Rosewater? How is he related to the Rosewater family in Indiana? What does Fred do for a living?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Eliot's analogy of the Money River. How does his analogy compare to society? Can anyone get ahead if there is indeed a Money River?

Essay Topic 2

When Eliot calls Sylvia from Rosewater, Indiana, he tells her he will become an artist. Loving the people of Rosewater will be his art. What does Eliot mean by this? How can loving people be art?

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?

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