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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 Carl say Henderson dropped out of?

2. Why does Carl say he's asking about the deaths in his building?

3. What is the topic of the song that Carl reads to Duncan?

4. When is it that the sound of the baby's crying usually begins?

5. What does Carl do with the page containing the culling song?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Carl come to believe that Helen killed the Stuarts?

2. What does Carl offer up as "credentials" that he's worthy of following this story and why does he give that information to Helen?

3. What does Helen say about her ability to pray very quickly?

4. What is Carl's purpose for his first meeting with Helen?

5. What does Carl discover about his ability to forget the culling song?

6. What is the ethics question Carl says journalists are asked before they complete their ethics class?

7. What is Helen's real estate business based on?

8. What is the significance of the story about the nurse who killed so many people?

9. What are some of the myths about sudden infant death that Carl says have been disproved?

10. What does Helen say about the origin of the culling poem?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Helen's use of the culling song is vastly different from Carl's use and from what Oyster plans to use it for. Are Helen's motives any more honorable? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

At one point Carl hopes the police will arrest him so that he can pay for his crimes. What is his motivation? Is it believable? Will it accomplish what he hopes to accomplish?

Essay Topic 3

Carl builds models then smashes them. What is the symbolism of this action? List at least one more instance in which symbolism plays a role in the book.

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