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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the narrator characterize Francis’ mother’s reaction to his arrival in the cemetery?
(a) Nervous.
(b) Furious.
(c) Relieved.
(d) Delighted.

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

3. What is Francis afraid will happen to Sandra?
(a) She will get sick.
(b) The dogs will eat her.
(c) She’ll be arrested.
(d) She will die.

4. What does Helen say she was doing while Sandra was dying?
(a) Sleeping.
(b) Praying.
(c) Enjoying herself.
(d) Singing.

5. What physically connects Francis to the memory of his son’s death?
(a) The sensation of his own awed astonishment at what happened.
(b) Birds chirping in the trees.
(c) Tears dropping on his shoes.
(d) The winds in the grass.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is Dante’s epigraph from?

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

3. The narrator says that Francis was “staunchly resolute” in the face of what?

4. Where did Francis go after the first time he killed a man?

5. What physical debility does Reverend Chester have?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Francis feeling at the beginning of the novel?

2. Describe the brotherhood Francis and Rudy share.

3. What price does Helen pay for sleeping in Finny’s car?

4. Where did Francis Phelan’s family lie in the pecking order of the cemetery?

5. Describe Francis and Helen’s visit to Jack and Clara’s flat.

6. What does Francis’ conversation with Rudy tell us about his relationship with Helen?

7. Describe Francis’ relationship with his mother.

8. Describe the presence of the dead in Francis’ present day experience, after shoveling dirt at the cemetery.

9. How did Francis end up with a job shoveling dirt at the cemetery?

10. Describe the relationship between Francis and Rudy.

(see the answer keys)

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