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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 owns cattle a town away from Nora and is very wealthy and influential?

2. Why is Lurie being chased by the law?

3. Who were Rey Ruiz's people?

4. Who does Lurie originally steal the nazar from?

5. What does Toby tell his mother he thinks is lurking around their house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What serious crime does Lurie commit in Part One that gets Marshal John Berger searching for him?

2. What is one of Nora's most pressing concerns on her homestead?

3. What kind of creature does Lurie see for the first time when he steals away on the ship in Part II?

4. What power does Josie claim to have that Nora is skeptical about?

5. Why does Nora choose to sign her rebuttal letter to The Sentinel from Ellen Francis?

6. What do Emmett and Nora do when some of their neighbors move away, including the Flores family?

7. What one word does Emmett question Nora's use of in her rebuttal letter she wants him to print in The Sentinel?

8. What is Hobb's "want" that Lurie is compelled to fulfill?

9. What is awkward about Nora's visit to Desma in Part II?

10. What does Lurie steal on the ship he takes cover on whose owner he later bumps into in Part I?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How would you describe Merrion Crace's approach and attitudes towards power and wealth? What tactics does he use to try to persuade Nora to do what he wants her to do in the section titled Evening?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay describing the role that supernatural forces and entities like fortune-telling, ghosts, and seances play in the plot of this novel.

Essay Topic 3

What makes Lurie give Jolly back the nazar he stole from him in the section titled The Missouri, and what does this action portend about their later relationship? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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