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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 many members were in Vance's Marine Corps boot camp platoon by the end of boot camp?

2. What does ACE stand for in Vance's definition in Chapter 14?

3. Where did Papaw install a secret phone line for Vance and his sister so that they could call Mamaw and Papaw when they needed to?

4. What celebrity did Mamaw consider to be the embodiment of the American Dream, according to Vance in Chapter 10?

5. Who was the senator that Vance worked for at the Ohio Statehouse while attending college?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Vance describe as the single most determinant for a person's success in Chapter 15?

2. What are the impacts of social perceptions of masculinity and femininity in poor societies, according to Vance in Chapter 15?

3. What led to Mamaw's death? When did she die?

4. How does Vance perceive American politics in regards to how they are judged in poor communities in his Conclusion?

5. What two events does Vance describe as being significant to him during his last two years of service in the Marines?

6. How does Vance describe the motel in Middletown in Chapter 15?

7. Where did Vance intend to attend college after graduating high school? Why?

8. Why was Vance drawn to attending Yale Law School? What aspects of the program appealed to him?

9. What relationship difficulties does Vance discuss in Chapter 14?

10. Why did Vance tell the woman at the gas station that his girlfriend attended Yale in Chapter 12?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What was Mamaw's relationship with organized religion? How did this influence Vance? Who else in Vance's life had influence over his religious explorations and beliefs?

Essay Topic 2

Who are Mamaw and Papaw's three children? How does Vance describe them in the memoir? Who is Vance's mother and how does he describe his relationship with her growing up?

Essay Topic 3

How does Vance describe the cultural differences that Mamaw and Papaw experienced when they moved from Kentucky to Ohio? How did they cope with these differences? How did Vance perceive the differences between these settings?

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