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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 are Milton, Dolly and Ella going in a limousine?

2. How does Helen react when the person in #48 apologizes?

3. Where was Milton's daughter living when she wrote him the letter that he reads while waiting at the train station?

4. Where had Peyton gone to college?

5. What is Maudie's condition that keeps her mother preoccupied with her?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author provide more in-depth information about Milton and Helen's marriage?

2. How does the narrator address the reader and how is setting established in the novel?

3. What are Milton's feelings toward Dolly at this point and why has she accompanied him to the train station?

4. What is the premise of LIE DOWN IN DARKNESS?

5. How does Helen use Maudie's physical afflictions as a tool?

6. As Dolly rides in the limousine on the way to the cemetery, what are her thoughts about her relationship with Milton?

7. How does the experience of the black people contrast with the lives of the supposedly more fortunate Loftis family?

8. Describe the activity surrounding Daddy Faith.

9. How does the author indicate the importance of Milton's father's words?

10. Where does Dolly find Milton when the train arrives at the station?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the overall setting for the novel. Why does Styron use the setting he does? What is the time period of the story? How important is the time period to the attitudes and issues of the characters?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the concept of loneliness as it exhibits in the story. Which of the characters are lonely? Are they all lonely in some way? Explain the loneliness and the methods and attempts to overcome it.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 7, the author provides Peyton's thoughts through a technique called stream of consciousness. Define stream of consciousness. Then explain how Chapter 7 uses this technique. Why would the author choose to use this technique in his novel? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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