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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. What has just taken place when In the Lake of the Woods begins?

2. What evidence did the clerk from town contribute to the discussion Arthur Lux and Vinny Pearson had with John?

3. What do John and Kathy do on their seventh day at the cabin?

4. Who is Tony Carbo?

5. Who does John call after talking with Claude Rasmussen?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the setting of the opening scene of In the Lake of the Woods.

2. What do Arthur Lux and Vinny Pearson think happened to Kathy?

3. Describe the effect of reading In the Lake of the Woods.

4. Why did John join the military?

5. Describe John's relationship with his father.

6. What was John's experience of Vietnam like, and what did Weatherby have to do with his experience?

7. What sources does the narrator use, to piece together the story?

8. What is Claude Rasmussen's opinion about what happened?

9. When did the Wades discover that the election was lost?

10. What do we learn about John's character from the evidence and narrative?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Make a timeline of the events described in the book, and then devise a method of indicating how the book jumps back and forth between times. What structure or pattern emerges? What is unique about this structure?

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate your own reading of In the Lake of the Woods--did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

Essay Topic 3

In what way is the John still always trying to erase himself from the records after Vietnam? Where does he succeed? Where does he fail? Is complete erasure possible? Is it desirable?

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This section contains 802 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample