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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 happened to the men who killed Old Man Salter?

2. What is the condition of Culla's sister when he returns home?

3. Where does the vendor take the person in #24?

4. Culla's sister tells the family in the house that she is looking for ______________.

5. Rinthy tells the old woman that she is looking for the tinker to ________________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the condition of the man's sister inside the cabin?

2. What do the tinker and the woman at his store decide to do with the baby?

3. What does Culla do before going to the store again and what admonition does he give his sister before leaving?

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

5. How does the tinker react when he learns that the baby was a product of incest?

6. Describe the family that Rinthy meets after she has been walking for awhile.

7. How does the unnamed man get the tinker to leave the cabin?

8. How old would Rinthy's baby be at this point in time? How long has Rinthy been searching for her baby? How long has Culla been searching for Rinthy?

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

10. Who provides Culla with a small job and what other kindness does he show Culla?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Explain the significance of the novel's title. What did the author mean by calling the book OUTER DARK? Cite an example to support your answer. If you're stuck, think in terms of a Biblical reference.

Essay Topic 3

Define the Southern Gothic genre of literature. Why does McCarthy's OUTER DARK fit into the Southern Gothic category? Give examples to support your claim.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 948 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample