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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. From where does the North Pole expedition set off?

2. Is Perry able to locate the exact spot of the North Pole?

3. As the strike wears on, what is being done for the children?

4. What does Father do with all the family watching?

5. What do most of the 1mmigrants find as they settle in New York?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the second generation Irish feel about the new immigrants?

2. What becomes the fashion among the rich in turn of the century America?

3. What does the Franklin Novelty Company do with Tateh's books?

4. What crime is Harry K. Shaw accused of committing?

5. What does Tateh notice about The Girl on their train trip.

6. What is Mother's concern about Younger Brother?

7. What are Tateh's plans for him and The Girl as they leave New York?

8. How does Evelyn lose The Girl?

9. What happens when Tateh is working in the Mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts?

10. What is Perry's attitude towards the Esquimo people?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write about Harry Houdini's fixation on finding a way to communicate with his dead mother. The attachment of Houdini to his mother is a documented fact. He also spent the rest of his life looking for someone who could make contact with the dead. In the process he became an authority on fakes and charlatans who claimed special powers to channel the dead. In your paper, explain why you think Doctorow used Houdini as a major character in the book? Point out the societal changes that were happening at that time that Houdini symbolizes.

Essay Topic 2

Do some research and write a brief paper on J. Pierpont Morgan. Political cartoons of his time pictured Morgan as being bigger than Uncle Sam. In fact, he did bail out the U.S. economy at one time. There is even an undertone of racism in Morgan in the novel when he cables the D. A. to give Coalhouse his auto and hang him. From your research, explain how Doctorow's use of Morgan in the novel is believable.

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper explaining the difference between an anarchist and a socialist. These strange bedfellows come together in the meeting Tateh takes Evelyn to. Anarchists oppose any form of government and socialists promote total government control. Explain why Tateh did not agree with anarchism or communism. Why was he a socialist? Then decide if his later affluence changed his political ideas and why.

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