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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. How does the old woman know that Rinthy has just had a baby?

2. At whose home does Culla ask for a job?

3. What kind of work does a woman hire Rinthy to do?

4. What is the person in #19 walking on in the woods?

5. Who had made the path the vendor took in the woods?

Short Essay Questions

1. What haunting experience does Culla have the next morning?

2. Who does Rinthy go in search of in the town she travels to with the family?

3. How does McCarthy introduce Culla and what are the circumstances of him and his sister?

4. Where does Rinthy follow the tinker in the hopes of finding her baby?

5. In what way do Culla and the blind man share a similar destiny?

6. Who are the three men who rescue Culla on the riverbank?

7. What fact will be unknown to the brother or his sister who delivered the baby?

8. Describe the scenario of Culla waiting for a ferry.

9. What route does the tinker follow through the woods?

10. What is the significance of searching in this section?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

OUTER DARK is written in the Southern Gothic style. What does that classification entail? Why does this novel fit into this category? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

McCarthy uses more than one instance of irony in the story. Cite at least two other examples you can identify in the story and note why they are examples of irony. What is the major irony in the story? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

The author uses more than one theme in the novel. Identify at least two themes in the story and then cite an example to support each theme.

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This section contains 932 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample