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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the narrator characterize Gerald’s eternal repose?
(a) Abdication.
(b) Torment.
(c) Sublimity.
(d) Struggle.

2. What does Daddy Big say Francis’ son Billy did for him?
(a) Kept him from choking when he was sick.
(b) Got him work.
(c) Gave him money.
(d) Gave him a place to dry out.

3. Where does Francis Phelan find his family’s graves?
(a) In the earth and sky themselves.
(b) Among the illustrious dead.
(c) In the unmarked graves.
(d) Among the flowing masses.

4. In the epigraph, what does Dante leave behind by hoisting sail with his wit?
(a) His fair wife.
(b) A sea so cruel.
(c) His darling children.
(d) His beautiful homeland.

5. How does Francis describe Helen to Rudy?
(a) He says that she’s the best woman he’s ever known.
(b) He says that she never gives him any peace with her nagging.
(c) He says that he can never tell where she is.
(d) He says that he can’t wait to be finished with her.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Rudy tell Francis the doctor diagnosed him with?

2. What does Gerald hope Francis will do after making this visit?

3. What does the narrator say Rudy is aware of as Francis approaches Gerald’s grave?

4. What day of the year does Ironweed start on?

5. What physically connects Francis to the memory of his son’s death?

(see the answer key)

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