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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 happens after Miss Burden opens up about her family history?

2. What does the old woman instinctively know about Christmas without even seeing him?

3. To where does Miss Burden make arrangements for Christmas to go?

4. How old is Miss Burden when she discovers him stealing food from her house?

5. What does Brown give to the Negro boy in the woods?

Short Essay Questions

1. The cries of Lena's newborn child are significant for Byron. Why?

2. As Christmas runs to avoid the law, he stops at a cabin and trades shoes with a Negro woman. What is the significance of the traded shoes?

3. How does Christmas know that he has run far enough for now?

4. Why does Christmas refuse to marry Miss Burden and raise a family?

5. New life has significance in more than one way in this chapter. Explain.

6. Why does Christmas feel he will be safe at Miss Burden's place?

7. How does Mrs. Hines indirectly cause the death of Christmas, her grandson?

8. Explain why Christmas' arrival in the town of Mottstown means that he has come full circle in his life.

9. Why are the townspeople anxious to find Miss Burden's killer?

10. Why does Percy Grimm castrate Christmas while he is still alive?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Byron and Hightower. The men are friends but their core beliefs are at odds at points during the book. Also, Byron does not feel he is as good as Hightower yet he shows more compassion toward people. What other similarities and dissimilarities are there between the two characters?

Essay Topic 2

Why does Byron assume that the stink coming from Hightower's house is that of goodness? Why can he not identify the odor as the stink of an unclean bachelor? Why does Faulkner use this imagery to drive home his points about the relationship between Byron and Hightower?

Essay Topic 3

Why does Christmas have trouble accepting kindnesses, especially from women? What role, if any, do the dietitician, Mrs. McEachern and Miss Burden play in his inability to receive kindness?

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