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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 occurrence in nature does Amanda believe holds great, mysterious power?

2. With what animal did John Paul Zimmer return to Washington after his studies in Paris?

3. What is John Paul's preferred method of transit?

4. What does Marx admit about his impressions of the Zillers in his journal?

5. When Amanda suffers a miscarriage, what is the weather, which is hinted to be the cause of her accident?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was Plucky discharged from the military?

2. Describe John Paul's gifts to his wife in the hospital and meaning behind them.

3. Describe John Paul Ziller's childhood.

4. How does Plucky Purcell keep the rednecks from hassling the circus?

5. What is significant about Plucky's job in logging?

6. What solution does Amanda come up with in regards to the animal portion of their zoo?

7. Why is John Paul distracted when he and Amanda begin to restore the shack and how does she feel about it?

8. Why is Marx interested in working with John Paul and Amanda?

9. How does Plucky infiltrate the Society of the Felicitator?

10. How does the narrator equate butterflies to John Paul and Amanda?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the death of John Paul Ziller in the following format:

Part 1) Foreshadowing.

Part 2) Returning to "the source."

Part 3) The artist and the metaphor.

Part 4) His relationship with Amanda.

Part 5) Sacrifice versus suicide.

Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

What are the possibilities that Marx, Plucky, and Ziller consider for the Corpse and why? What are the pros and cons to every idea? How do their personal viewpoints affect their opinions on the Corpse's fate? What are some of the morally gray areas about which the four of them are forced to debate in this regard? Discuss the answers to these questions in an essay. Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

"He's a symbol junkie . . . people like him- that is, the majority- are strung out on symbols. They're so addicted that they prefer abstract symbols to the concrete things which symbols represent. It's much easier to cope with the abstract than with the concrete; there's no direct, personal involvement- and you can keep an abstract idea steady in your mind whereas real things are usually in a state of flux and always changing. It's safer to play around with a man's wife than with his cliches." Write an essay about Amanda's statement. Discuss what it means to the Second Coming as depicted in this novel and how it affects the ways in which Amanda and John Paul live their lives. Develop a clear thesis statement and cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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