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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 Bobbie do that lets Christmas know that she does not want to marry him?

2. When Hightower does not leave, who threatens him by beating him unconscious in the woods near his home?

3. What are the men in the room discussing?

4. What does Mr. McEachern see from his bedroom window one night?

5. What does Hightower do to supplement his monthly inheritance since he lost his position at the church twenty-five years ago?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Christmas attracted to Bobbie?

2. What is Christmas' final act of naivete regarding Bobbie?

3. Why does Christmas wish that McEachern would discover his absence in the house this night and try to stop him?

4. Why does Byron regret telling Lena that the man in town named Joe Brown is the man she knows as Lucas Burch?

5. Who does the dietician turn to in her plans to ruin Christmas?

6. Why does Christmas take Mrs. McEachern's hidden money as she watches him do it?

7. What internal conflict does Christmas begin to experience this night?

8. How does Christmas realize that racial prejudice is not as strong in the North as it is in the South?

9. What are the details of the murder as told by Byron in this chapter?

10. How does Lena rationalize the fact that Lucas has not yet sent for her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Faulkner uses the literary technique of flashback in this novel. Note the flashback instances and describe them briefly. What is the purpose of using this technique? What do they provide the reader? What would the reader not know about this story if the flashbacks were not included?

Essay Topic 2

Faith is an important theme in the novel. Give examples of faith from the book that exemplify what is expected of people of faith as well as some examples of behavior which is counter to those with supposed religious beliefs. What points is Faulkner trying to make by pointing out the disparity in beliefs and actions?

Essay Topic 3

Faulkner opens the novel with the story of Lena and her undeterred faith that she will find the father of her unborn child. What does Lena symbolize in the novel? Why does Faulkner use her character to establish the story?

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This section contains 798 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample