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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 say Daddy Big Dugan died?
(a) Inhaling his vomit.
(b) Old age.
(c) Jumped off a bridge.
(d) Stabbing.

2. What does Francis get for Sandra?
(a) Wine.
(b) A place to sleep.
(c) Soup.
(d) A coat.

3. Which street does Francis say he used to own?
(a) Pearl Street.
(b) Washington Avenue.
(c) State Street.
(d) Broadway.

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

5. What does the narrator say was Francis’ relationship with prayer?
(a) He prayed for forgiveness for his sins.
(b) He prayed religiously for his health and others’.
(c) He never knew what to pray for.
(d) He always resisted speaking to imaginary people.

Short Answer Questions

1. What year is it in the present moment of the novel?

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

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

4. How did Aldo Campione die?

5. What are Francis’ feelings about the house he was born in?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the relationship between Francis and Rudy.

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

4. Describe the brotherhood Francis and Rudy share.

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

6. How did Francis’ father die?

7. Describe Francis’ baseball career.

8. What does Francis say is the curve of Clara’s life?

9. Describe the environment of the Gilded Cage.

10. What effect is created by the author’s sophisticated vocabulary?

(see the answer keys)

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