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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 finds out from a sailor that the land he sees from the ship is part of what location?

2. How does Håkan acquire Pingo?

3. Toward what location does Lorimer travel when he parts ways with Håkan?

4. Who releases Håkan from his restrained position inside the covered wagon?

5. How long is the longest tooth in Lorimer's new collection?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe a time in the narrative when a metaphor is used to indicate a particular mood.

2. Who are the Brennans and how does Håkan become involved with them?

3. Why is the extremely large man a topic of conversation for the other passengers on the ship, other than his size?

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

5. How does Håkan finally escape from Clangston?

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

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

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

9. In what location does the prologue of the novel take place?

10. On what type of food does Håkan survive after he escapes from the diseased woman's clutches?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What message does Diaz send within the pages of In the Distance concerning the theme of compassion?

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze Diaz’s focus on the motif of violence in the novel In the Distance. What message is Diaz sending about violence, America, and the human condition?

(see the answer keys)

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