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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. Where does Captain Bellodi tell some girls that most mafia bosses would stay while they were in jail in Section 10?

2. How do the police obtain a confession to show Marchica in Section 6?

3. Whose confession does the Captain show the don during an interrogation in Section 9?

4. Where does the story Captain Bellodi tells some girls he meets in Section 10 about the mafia take place?

5. Whose office is the man the police allow to sit in the captain's office during interrogation able to see into?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Marchica claim was the reason Pizzuco asked to have Salvatore killed?

2. What is the nature of the conversation between two men regarding Captain Bellodi in Section 8?

3. How does the wife of the high-ranking minister known as "His Excellency" react when he answers a phone call in Section 8?

4. What is the nature of Marchica and Pizzuco's testimonies in Section 10?

5. What are the two men talking at the beginning of Section 9 worried about?

6. What happens when a woman named Livia invites the captain and his friend to her house in Parma?

7. What is the nature of Dr. Baccarella's testimony in Section 10?

8. How does Don Arena react when police mention his daughter during his interrogation in Section 9?

9. How do the police obtain a murder confession to show Marchica in Section 6?

10. What is the nature of the confession the police show to Marchica in Section 6?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the nature of the author's choice for the book's layout, namely having the climax comes in the opening scene. How does this make you view the plot differently than you normally would, especially given the fact that there will be no conflict needed to build a climax?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the author's portrayal of violence in the book. What role does violence play in the success of the mafia and what impact does this have on the nature of Sicilians in the book?

Essay Topic 3

The portrayal of corruption is an important theme found in the book that makes the reader question the similarities the police have with the mafia. Part 1.) How does the mafia use corruption as a means to an end in the book, namely in their business ventures? Part 2.) What is telling of the nature of the police based on their tendencies of corruption in the book? Part 3.) Is the corruption used by the police warranted given their desire to find justice or does this prove they are no more innocent than the mafia?

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