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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the subject of most of the songs the Catholics sing on the Feast of Assumption?
(a) The famine of 1740.
(b) The shootout of 1922.
(c) The rebellion of 1798.
(d) The black death of 1348.

2. Which two characters are introduced first at the beginning of the novel?
(a) The boy and his father.
(b) The boy and Rory Hannaway.
(c) The boy and his mother.
(d) The boy and Una, his sister.

3. What makes the boy feel distinctly uncomfortable in Chapter 1?
(a) The book he reads in the dark.
(b) His sympathy for the Protestant police.
(c) His mother's depression.
(d) What he finds in his sister's wardrobe.

4. Why is the murder case of 1921 thrown out of court?
(a) The murder suspect had a proven alibi.
(b) The murder suspect disappeared.
(c) There wasn't enough evidence.
(d) The evidence was tampered with.

5. What causes the boy to have nightmares?
(a) His mother's unsuccessful suicide attempts caused by her depression.
(b) Stories of the murder trial of 1922.
(c) The death of his sister.
(d) His treatment by the police.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who tells the boy about the murder of 1921?

2. What happens to the boy when the police come to search the house?

3. Who does the boy find out is responsible for the murder of 1921?

4. The famous shoot-out in 1922 was between which two groups of people?

5. From where does the title of the novel get its name?

(see the answer key)

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