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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 news do Tom and his family discover in Chapter One?

2. What does Tom read in the waiting room of Dr. Lowenstein's office?

3. Whose phone call disrupts the harmony of the opening scene?

4. How would you characterize Bernard's attitude in his first meeting with Tom?

5. What does Tom promise to tell Dr. Lowenstein during dinner?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the fury of the storm echo the plight of Lila Wingo?

2. How does the death of Rose Ann reveal the nature of the Wingo parents?

3. How does Tom explain the recording of Savannah's psychotic seizure?

4. How has coaching Bernard helped Tom?

5. Why doesn't Lila want the children to tell their father about the man called "Callanwolde"?

6. How does the Prologue present the father of the Wingo children?

7. How does Lila react to Henry's buying a tiger?

8. What does the story of Lila's quest to win the Colleton League cookbook contest reveal about her character?

9. What does Luke pray for before his father leaves for Korea?

10. What is curious about Tolitha and Amos having Henry for a son?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the prevailing ideas of the novel is the concept of dualism; of two sides to the same subject or character. Conroy often develops this duality by placing pairs of characters in stark comparison or contrast to each other to illuminate a concept about either persona or both of them.

Choose ONE of the following pairs of characters and write a compare and contrast essay about them. Be sure to use specific and relevant details from the text. Remember also to analyze the significance, consequence, or reason for the author's juxtaposition of these two figures.

A.) Tom and Savannah.

B.) Grandpa Wingo and Tolitha.

C.) Henry and Lila.

D.) Bernard and Savannah.

E.) Susan and Tom.

F.) Herbert and Lila.

G.) Amos and Luke.

H.) Luke and Henry.

Essay Topic 2

The game of football plays a major role in the lives and events of several characters throughout the novel. Discuss the role of football in the novel. What part does it play in the text? Be sure to examine at least three different accounts of football from the narrative as you develop your thesis about the significance of this sport in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

While the narrative of the Wingo family abounds with tragedy and conflict, Conroy does manage to interject select scenes to provide a sense of comic relief into the otherwise traumatic account.

Choose ONE scene from the novel that provides some measure of comic relief. Be sure your essay:

A.) Discusses the particular scene in detail for the reader.

B.) Analyzes how this scene provides a relief or contrast to the more serious and depressing elements of the Wingo history.

C.) Evaluates the role of this scene in the overall narrative. Why is it necessary in the story? How would the novel be affected without it?

(see the answer keys)

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