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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. Which of the following does Amanda experience after the unsettling event in Chapter 22?

2. What does Ruth know she should invite Amanda to do in the end of Chapter 25?

3. What happens again in Chapter 31 that terrifies everyone?

4. What phrase does Ruth recall her mother saying in Chapter 18?

5. In Chapter 23, what does Amanda ask if the noise could have been?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 20, how does Clay feel about the vacation as he drives around, lost?

2. In Chapter 23, what does G.H. suggest is the source of the unsettling thing that happens that even he does not believe?

3. In Chapter 21, what does Rose see in the woods that she points out to Archie?

4. In Chapter 30, what do the adults see outside that astounds them?

5. At the end of Chapter 27, why does Ruth tell Amanda that Amanda is lucky?

6. In Chapter 18, what does Ruth most desire?

7. In Chapter 31, what does the narrator reveal about "the noise"?

8. What is the main reason Clay gets lost in Chapter 20?

9. In Chapter 22, what happens that startles and upsets everyone?

10. How does Clay react to the Spanish-speaking woman who approaches him in Chapter 20?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does G.H. Washington think that his former building contractor, Danny, might be able to help them, and what does G.H. think when it turns out that Danny reacts very differently to his visit than G.H. had anticipated? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Why do you think Ruth is so afraid - and so insistent that G.H. not leave her in trying to help Clay and Archie towards the end of the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think Alam chooses to employ the voice of a narrator who seems to know only slightly more about the crises unfolding than the characters themselves do? What tone do you think Alam is trying to set in choosing this style? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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