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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. What does Helen admit to Carey on the day they meet?

2. Who is the boyfriend Peyton brings home from college?

3. Against whom are the Southerners in the story prejudiced?

4. What does the person in #100 want Helen to do about Milton?

5. What is the primary relationship in LIE DOWN IN DARKNESS?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does Helen blame for Maudie's death?

2. What is the perception of the Southern wedding guests toward Harry?

3. How does the author show that Milton has inappropriate feelings for Peyton?

4. What is the nature of the letter Milton writes to Peyton while Helen and Maudie are out of town?

5. What does Dick do while Helen and Maudie are out of town and he has the house to himself?

6. What does Milton do to embarrass himself at the university football game?

7. What comment does Helen make to Carey as they leave for the cemetery which acts as foreshadowing?

8. What is the significance of the characters coming closer to the cemetery?

9. What do Carey and Milton talk about while waiting in the roadhouse for the hearse to be repaired?

10. What does Milton remember about the Christmas of 1941?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Create a brief character study of Dolly. What does she look like? What are her positive personality traits? What are some of her negative characteristics? What are her hopes and fears? What motivates her--if anything--at this point in her life?

Essay Topic 2

What is the significance of the funeral hearse that keeps breaking down. What did Styron want the reader to take away from this recurring incident? What symbolism does the hearse have for the main characters? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Styron uses more than one instance of irony in the book. Cite at least two examples you can identify in the novel and note why they are examples of irony.

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This section contains 992 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample