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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. Who does the police chief tell Lazarus his story has somehow reminded him of?

2. Why is Ed in the new city in the story When We All Get to Heaven?

3. Who flanks the music star into the building amid the cheering crowd, which Ed witnesses?

4. What does Lazarus do in his early thirties after leaving the Merchant Marines?

5. What does Lazarus call his aunt who is always trying to stick her nose in other people's business?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Lazarus Barden II having problems with his Aunt Tensy in the story Ain't No Sunshine?

2. How do the bystanders in the grocery store react when Lazarus beats up J.C. Stokes?

3. Why does Howard Hughes buy Bradham's motel in Tim's Creek?

4. What does Lazarus compare his Aunt Tensy's interactions with her family to?

5. Why does Ed Phelps go to the Carnegie Deli in the story When We All Get to Heaven?

6. What is the narrator's mother in the story The Eternal Glory That Is Ham Hocks pleased about regarding his career path?

7. Why does Inez Cross Chasten choose not to tell her husband, ever, about Howard Hughes's proposition to her?

8. Why does Lazarus think news of his beating J.C. Stokes will be all over town after he goes to the police station?

9. How does Ed get caught up in Billy Idol's entourage?

10. Why does Howard Hughes ask Inez Cross Chasten to work for him in the story titled The Eternal Glory That Is Ham Hocks?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Pastor Lazarus Barden II feel after he beats J.C. Stokes with his belt in the story Ain't No Sunshine, and why do you think his old friend and the Police Chief Tony Cavanaugh refuses to charge or prosecute him for the crime? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay explaining the nuances and complexities of Pastor Lazarus Barden II's feelings about his Aunt Hortensia Barden Parker Compton's role in the extended family, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the story Resurrection Hardware or, Lard and Promises, how would you describe the ways in which Randall's relationship with and perceptions of the ghosts in his house and on his property change over time? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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