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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. Håkan fears that what element will result in the deaths of the convoy members?

2. What element of weather leads to the men's predicament of being stranded?

3. When Håkan regains consciousness after his period of feverish wandering, he finds himself in what state inside a covered wagon?

4. Who is the first person in the narrative to call Håkan by the name of "Hawk" (31)?

5. A convoy from what location arrives in order to threaten the Brennans if they do not give up their mine and flee?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Håkan's family situation, as it is depicted once the body of the narrative begins.

2. How does Håkan finally escape from Clangston?

3. Describe the distinctive opening of Chapter 6 and its use of sensory details.

4. How does Håkan feel about his older brother Linus?

5. Who is Lorimer and what are three of his characteristics?

6. How is the theme of family bonds demonstrated within Chapter 6?

7. How does Håkan end up on a ship ultimately bound for California, when he had been headed for New York City?

8. Describe the striking opening image of In the Distance.

9. What method does Håkan's father Erik use to obtain the money to send his sons to America?

10. In what way does Diaz feature the motif of sound within the scene of the massacre?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explicate the theme of hope within In the Distance. What is Diaz’s message regarding hope and how do you know?

Essay Topic 2

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Diaz’s novel In the Distance. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Sensory details are used frequently by Diaz in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of In the Distance. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Diaz’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

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