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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 do the townspeople want to do with Christmas?

2. What does Christmas eat while on the run?

3. Where does Christmas go when he escapes from jail and where he is eventually killed?

4. How does the fading afternoon light seem to Hightower?

5. Who is the National Guard soldier who stakes out Christmas with his troops?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the Negroes of Mottstown support Mr. Hines who preaches white supremacy in Negro churches?

2. Why does Byron force an encounter with Brown after Brown flees from Lena in the cabin?

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

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

5. Explain the irony in Miss Burden's nearly nymphomaniac behavior?

6. How does Faulkner show that women are more realistic and more forgiving in this chapter?

7. Explain this statement made by Christmas: "Whether they are seventeen or fortyseven, when they finally come to surrender completely, it's going to be in words."

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

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

10. What is the symbolism of the odor in Hightower's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Why do you think Hightower is really forced to resign from his minister position? Was it because his wife disgraced him with improper behavior? Or is there some hidden story related to rumors of his homosexuality? Explain your perspective.

Essay Topic 3

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?

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This section contains 740 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample