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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. What knowledge does Francis say he and Rudy share?
(a) The chivalry of drink.
(b) The etiquette of bums.
(c) The manners of wanderers.
(d) The rights of homeless men.

2. What does Gerald hope Francis will do after making this visit?
(a) Kill himself.
(b) Die in peace.
(c) Make new babies.
(d) Stop trying to die.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Francis kill Dick Doolan?

2. What is the price Helen pays for sleeping where she does after leaving Clara's house?

3. What role had Dick Doolan played in Francis’ life?

4. What had Dick Doolan’s job been, when he worked in the Tenderloin?

5. How does Francis describe Helen to Rudy?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Francis come to see Aldo Campione die?

2. What kinship does Francis have with the Phelan brothers?

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. When Helen says that she won’t go back to Finny’s car, she says that she might call her people. What is the irony in this?

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

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

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

9. What is Reverend Chester’s policy about drunks, and what effect does it have?

10. What expression does Francis use when something is finally and absolutely concluded?

(see the answer keys)

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