View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What food is left on the stove in the kitchen when Harry returns home?

2. What television show do Janis and Harry watch?

3. What is the name of the first man with whom Ruth had sex?

4. For what ostensible expense does Harry give Ruth fifteen dollars at the end of dinner?

5. Who does Lucy Eccles revere as a God?

Short Essay Questions

1. What non-Christian statement does Mrs. Smith regret making?

2. What does Harry realize about Tothero as they leave the Sunshine gym?

3. Describe Rabbit's run to the hospital.

4. Why does Harry take off his shoes on his walk up Mt. Judge?

5. What excuse does Janice make to her father regarding Harry?

6. What events lead to Harry's giving up his southward trek?

7. What is Jack Eccles supposed to be doing instead of playing golf?

8. Why does Jack Eccles despair after his visits to the Springers, Angstroms, and Kruppenbach?

9. How does Harry run into Tothero in this section?

10. What does Reverend Kruppenbach believe is the true vocation of a preacher?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel RABBIT, RUN contains much discussion of the elusive nature of faith. Harry struggles with the idea of the divine for a long time, unable to explain it to anyone, even himself. Write an essay on faith in the novel, in three parts:

Part 1) Ruth, an agnostic, is sickened by the church across the street from her apartment. How does Harry defend the idea of God in both her apartment and atop Mt. Judge? What was he raised believing?

Part 2) As Jack Eccles and Harry play golf, Harry explains the reason for his leaving home. To what extent is Harry's initial journey from his family a religious pilgrimage? What does he seek?

Part 3) Examine how the death of Rebecca Angstrom affects Harry's faith. How does he reconcile his notion of God with the senseless death of his child?

Essay Topic 2

The novel is largely told from Harry Angstrom's point of view, and much of his time is spent contending with the women in his life. Write an essay on Harry's ambivalent attitude toward women in three parts:

Part 1) What does Janice Angstrom represent to her husband throughout the novel? Why are they continually at odds with each other? What does Harry actually like about his wife?

Part 2) On of the strangest and most dangerous relationships that Harry has is with Lucy Eccles What is so precarious about their interactions? What do they seem to want from each other, and what stands in the way of this?

Part 3) To what extend is Ruth Leonard a happy medium for Harry between his wife and someone like Lucy Eccles? Why is he so happy for the time he is with her? What destroys this happiness?

Essay Topic 3

The world of RABBIT, RUN is one in which the past and present become intermingled. Harry constantly looks to the past for inspiration and comfort. Other people look back with a certain sadness. Write an essay about the past's role in the novel:

Part 1) How do Harry and Janice look back on the beginning of their relationship with a mixture of yearning and disdain? What did each expect from the relationship? How did the birth of Nelson change things?

Part 2) What is the high point of Harry Angstrom's life? What memory from this high water mark does he repeatedly recall throughout the novel? What does this memory do for him?

Part 3) What specific episodes from Ruth's past does she recall as she lays by the swimming pool with Harry? How do these memories inform her expectations from Harry? What does she expect and fear?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,147 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample