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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 newspaper does Dave buy in Chapter One?

2. Who or what are Papa Celestin and Sharky Bonnano that the author mentions in Chapter One?

3. Where does Dave go to hear Annie's string quarter play?

4. According to Dave, possession is how many years in Louisiana?

5. What does Dave do with the two guns from the deputies who stop him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What clues make Dave suspicious of the Cataouatche Parish sheriff?

2. What does Dave learn about the woman who, according to Fitzpatrick, is a possible witness?

3. What does Cletus do that escalates the situation with Segura in Chapter Four?

4. Describe Cletus Purcel.

5. Why is Dave suspicious of the Cataouatche Parish deputies who pull him over?

6. When and how does the reader first find out about Dave's time in Vietnam?

7. Discuss Cletus' marital problems.

8. Describe Sam Fitzpatrick as seen in Chapter Three?

9. What does Dave learn about Bobby Joe Starkweather from Wesley Potts?

10. What does Dave learn in Chapter Five that is related to the execution of Johnny Messina.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Dave's relationship with his father and his current feelings about the man. What impact does Dave's father have on him?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Dave's observation that "when these guys ceased to fill a need for somebody else, they would be taken off the board."

Essay Topic 3

The character Dave appears to an honest man who tries to be fair in Chapter 1. He treats Johnny Messina with respect, and he worries about a case outside of his jurisdiction when the sheriff does not order an autopsy. Yet Dave pulls out a five-inch Puma pocket knife that "could fillet bass like a barber's razor" in order to intimidate Wesley Potts. Is Dave still a good, honest cop? Does he have a different sense of what is right and fair froom other people might have? Explain your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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