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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. Who does Joel encounter preening on the front porch after running into Zoo in Chapter 5?

2. What does the eccentric hermit tell Joel in Chapter 5 that he wants to make for him?

3. What does Joel decide someone has against him when he first reverts inward during the religious service?

4. What does Randolph and Amy seem incapable of providing to Joel after the tennis ball enters the room?

5. What is the name of the eccentric cousin that lives at Joel's father's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the nature of Idabel and Joel's discussion when she visits him in Chapter 10?

2. What is the nature of Joel and Florabel's conversation in Chapter 5?

3. How is Joel's first vision of his father described?

4. What does Joel find in the mailbox at the Landing at the end of Chapter 5?

5. How does Idabel describe a tombstone that reads "Toby, killed by the cat" to Joel?

6. How are Joel's feelings described when he inverts during his first prayer service?

7. How does Randolph describe his feelings towards Pepe Alvarez to Joel?

8. How is Joel's new room at Skully's Landing described?

9. How is the red tennis ball described at the end of Chapter 6?

10. What is the nature of Joel's letter to his Aunt Ellen?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The notion of religion appears to play a vital role in Joel's life at the Landing.

Part 1.) What role does religious traditions seem to play in the lives of characters like Zoo and Jesus Fever based on their services performed on Sundays?

Part 2.) What is telling of Joel's nature based on his reactions to religious traditions at the Landing?

Part 3.) What might the author be saying about religion based on his portrayal of the religious acts seen at the Landing?

Essay Topic 2

The subject of homosexuality is present throughout much of the book and offers an important insight into the nature of the book's characters.

Part 1.) What can the reader learn about the nature of the local's acceptance of homosexuality based on Idabel's need to escape the town and be her true self?

Part 2.) In what way might the author's portrayal of Joel represent the journey of first discovering homosexuality?

Part 3.) How might Randolph be seen as the most open and understanding of homosexuality in the book?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the book's characters' purpose and motivation for using of manipulation. What motivations did Randolph and Amy have for continually manipulating Joel into staying at the Landing first by stopping his letters to his aunt and later by taking him away when his aunt would come to visit him?

(see the answer keys)

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