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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. Who does Cole try to get information from at Parker Center?

2. What type of pet does Cole have?

3. What sport does Lucy play?

4. To what does Cole compare the group of people watching Karen's funeral?

5. What rank was Pike in all of his classes?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Cole angry when he arrives at the coroner's office?

2. How does Pike know Frank Garcia?

3. Describe the scene when Cole confronts Dolan in her car.

4. How does Krantz react to Cole and Pike watching the investigation?

5. Why does Dolan go to Frank Garcia's house in chapter 15?

6. What does Cole discover in the letters in Karen's room?

7. Why do Cole and Pike drive to Lake Hollywood?

8. How does Karen find out that Pike is in love with another woman?

9. What happens to Edward Deege in Chapter 6?

10. Why does Joe Pike come to Cole's house in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Joe Pike works with two partners in the story. First, he works with the older cop, Abel Wozniak. Later, Pike teams up with Elvis Cole to create a private investigator agency. How are these two partnerships similar? How are they different? What does the reader learn about the characters through these partnerships? How does each partnership contribute to the plot's development? Use specific examples from the text in the response.

Essay Topic 2

Elvis Cole has two important relationships in the story--one with his friend and partner Joe Pike and another with his girlfriend Lucy Chenier. At times, the reader feels that Pike and Chenier are fighting for Cole's attention. Compare and contrast Pike's and Chenier's relationships with Cole. How does Cole balance between the two people? Why does he choose one over the other? How does the character who is pushed aside react? What do Cole's actions and his relationships with these two characters say about his personality? Use specific examples from the text in the response.

Essay Topic 3

L.A. Requiem is told from a first person point of view, using Elvis Cole as the narrator. How does having Cole as the sole narrator help or hinder the plot's development? What information can Cole provide the reader that other characters would not be able to provide? What information is hidden from the reader because Cole is the sole narrator? Use specific examples from the text in the response.

(see the answer keys)

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