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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 is Michael's wife's name?

2. What is one area of Michael's specialty?

3. What invitation does Michael accept during Christmas vacation?

4. Why does Michael tell Hanna he is proud of her?

5. How does Michael feel at the end of Part 2, Chapter 16?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Michael speaks to Hanna, right before she is released, at the end of chapter 9?

2. What does Michael notice about himself after he is taken to the hospital with fever?

3. What does Michael say about his relationships after Gertrud?

4. What does the prison warden tell Michael about Hanna and her time in prison?

5. What happens when Michael goes to talk to the judge in Chapter 16?

6. What does Michael dream about on the train from Boston to New York, on the way to visit the daughter from the trial?

7. How does Michael react after reading the letter in Chapter 7?

8. In Chapter 17, what is the atmosphere in the courtroom at the beginning of the sentencing?

9. What does Michael do with his own writing?

10. In Chapter 16, why does Michael say he "finds it unendurable to do nothing"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the early chapters of the novel, Michael describes the setting--Hanna's apartment, the city, the streetcars--in great detail. How do Michael's detailed descriptions give the reader clues to his character? How do details about the scenery advance the plot of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

How does Hanna act as a "bully" in the early stages of the relationship she has with Michael? Why does Michael feel he has no choice but to give in to Hanna and her demands? How does this set the tone for Hanna's behavior during her trial?

Essay Topic 3

In Part 1, Chapter 5 Michael says that he recognizes a life pattern in himself, and that "often enough in my life I have done things I had not decided to do." What does Michael mean by this? Describe and give examples of the disconnect Michael feels between making a decision and completing an action. How does this act as a foreshadowing of Michael's later behavior?

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