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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Joel go with Idabel to do in Chapter 7?

2. How many days does Ed Samson lie wounded in his apartment before being found?

3. Who reveals to Joel in Chapter 6 that they were the one shooting the gun?

4. How old was the person whose tombstone Idabel and Joel come up on?

5. Where did Randolph and his girlfriend move to when they come to the United States?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the author's portrayal of the theme of coming of age through Joel's character. What might the author be saying about the unpredictability of coming of age based on Joel's journey from boy to man in the book?

Essay Topic 2

Much of the dialogue used by the author provokes a distinct southern dialect that immerses the reader into the characters' surroundings.

Part 1.) How does the author's use of the Southern dialect in characters like Idabel help inform the readers about the nature of the book's setting?

Part 2.) In what way might the author's use of dialect be geared towards entertaining the reader?

Part 3.) What can the reader learn about the author's writing technique based on his masterly use of dialect in the book?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's portrayal of family in the book. What about the author's tendency to paint a flawed portrait of family in the book suggest about his own feelings towards the nature of familial bonds?

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