View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who asks the narrator to take McInnes to the hospital?

2. Where is the family from that picks up the hitchhiking narrator in Story 1?

3. Whose birthday is it in Story 4?

4. What does Jack Hotel and the narrator buy with their money in Story 3?

5. About how old does the narrator guess the sleeping baby in the backseat of the family's vehicle to be in Story 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. Define and discuss imagery which is found in Story 2.

2. What does the term "sacrifice" refer to when Wayne says, "It is my sacrifice" after the narrator offers to buy a round of beers at The Vine.

3. Who is Wayne? Describe his relationship with the narrator in Story 5.

4. Show how and when the narrator's violent side is exposed in Story 2.

5. Discuss comical irony which is found in Story 2.

6. Discuss the mini-theme of the manifestation of nature a seen in Story 1.

7. Describe the character of Jack Hotel. Discuss the interaction he has with the narrator.

8. While working with Wayne at the abandoned house, what is the narrator and Wayne distracted by? Who is this person?

9. Analyze the family who picks up the hitchhiking narrator in Story 1. What are some characteristics of this family?

10. How does the narrator and Dundun deal with the death of McInnes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain how the theme of tension between desperation and compassion contributes to the meaning of Jesus' Son as a whole.

Essay Topic 2

Clearly explain the male relationships found between the narrator and another male character from Jesus' Son. What is the effect of this male relationship on the narrator? What is the significance of this male relationship to the book as a whole?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that explains the symbolic value of the broken brakes on the narrator's car, as referred to in Story 2: "Two Men" and Story 4: "Dundun." What actions, circumstances, and attitudes not only in those two stories but in the collection as a whole are represented?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 982 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample