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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 was the woman at the car rental counter doing when Thompson arrived?

2. The dawn in the beginning of "Screwjack" is described as cold and ____________.

3. Leach told Thompson in "Death of a Poet" that he had changed his bet, gotten drunk, and ________________.

4. Where did Mr. Screwjack bite the second narrator as he was petting him?

5. The address given to Thompson by the poet was located behind ______________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What image did the narrator imagine of Leach's neighbors in "Death of a Poet"?

2. What did Leach tell the narrator was the savior of his marriage in "Death of a Poet"?

3. Who was the narrator going to see in "Death of a Poet"? What mood was he in?

4. What lines open "Death of a Poet"? To whom are they attributed?

5. Who is described in the beginning of the letter in "Screwjack"?

6. How is the narrative style of "Screwjack" similar to the other stories in the collection? How does it differ?

7. What other work had Thompson written centering on the character F.X. Leach?

8. Describe the use of imagery in "Death of a Poet." What images are symbolic in the story? How?

9. What was the critical and public reaction to the collection of stories in Screw-jack?

10. Describe the individual, F.X. Leach. What was his occupation? How did the narrator of "Death of a Poet" know him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Thompson's interaction with the employee at the car rental station in "Death of a Poet." What does this interaction show the protagonist to be?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the setting of "Mescalito." Why was Thompson at that particular location? What impact did the setting have on the events of the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the setting of "Death of a Poet." How is the setting integral to the plot of the narrative?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 727 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample