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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following is not a nickname that Eccles gives to one of his parishioners?

2. With whom is Harry staying at the end of the novel?

3. How does Harry make his way to the hospital to see his wife?

4. What is the name of the girl who used to wait for Rabbit after games for sex?

5. What is the name of the nun at the front desk of the ER?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Updike's novel is the story of a man unable to commit to any way of life for fear that a better option exists somewhere else. Write an essay about this fear, focusing on three of Rabbit's frantic flights:

Part 1) At the beginning of the novel, Rabbit abruptly abandons his family to drive south. What is he hoping to find on this journey? Why does it fail? How does Rabbit's interaction with a gas station attendant portend this failure?

Part 2) Why does Rabbit decide to leave Ruth? What does he think he leaves behind with this abandonment? What does he leave behind in reality?

Part 3) The final pages of Rabbit, Run contain a frantic flight in all directions for the protagonist. What is he trying to escape? How do neither of his two homes contain this goal? Where is Rabbit left at the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Marty Tothero seems like a cautionary figure when the prodigal Harry shows up at the Sunshine Athletic Association. He is separated from his wife, living in a storage closet, and occasionally attached to a likely prostitute. Write an essay about Tothero and Harry as kindred souls. What warnings does Tothero make to Harry? How does Harry feel like Tothero in his second date with Ruth and Margaret? Why does Harry always want to get away from Tothero?

(see the answer keys)

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