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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 name does the dietician call Christmas?

2. Who does Joe Brown accuse of murdering the answer to #42?

3. What is in the six metal tins which Christmas digs up in a nearby ditch?

4. Christmas walks into the woods and reaches a point by a small stream where he ___________________.

5. What does the answer to #46 discover when he finds Miss Burden?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the fourteen-year-old Christmas beat the Negro girl instead of having sex with her like the other boys do?

2. What is the symbolism of the polished shoes in this chapter?

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

4. Joe leaves the whorehouse and enters "the street which was to run for fifteen years." What is the significance of this statement?

5. Why does Christmas know that something is going to happen to him on this night?

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

7. How does the Hightower marriage eventually end?

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

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

10. Why does the dietician set out to destroy Christmas after the toothpaste incident?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Does Faulkner end the novel on a note of hope or the continuance of the futility of man's struggle to understand his existence? Explain

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of the month of August in the book? What does its position in the year symbolize. The month of August is especially poignant for a few characters. Who are they and what does August mean for them?

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