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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. Where did Francis tell the intern in Indiana his fingertip was?

2. What does Daddy Big say Francis’ son Billy did for him?

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

4. How does Francis characterize Helen in bed?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. Describe Francis’ relationship with his mother.

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

8. Describe the environment of the Gilded Cage.

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

10. What is Rowdy Dick Doolan’s role in Francis’ story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is Francis a hero or an anti-hero? Where does Francis fit in the continuum of other characters in literature? Compare and contrast Francis’ character with two other main characters in American literature.

Essay Topic 2

When is Ironweed most itself? What is its characteristic passage, or moment? What makes that moment or passage the most representative of the book as a whole? Are there any places where the book seems to depart from its typical self, as if to become a different book?

Essay Topic 3

The ending of the novel is ambiguous, but there are clues throughout the novel about whether it might be read optimistically or pessimistically. What indications does Kennedy give the reader about what to make of the ending? What conclusion do you come to about the conclusion?

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This section contains 923 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample