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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 did Damian's brother swallow?

2. Who does Peter learn is involved in the killings?

3. What is the sentence given at the trial?

4. Where does Brooks Campbell wait for Damian Rose?

5. What does the chief of police count at the murder scene?

Short Essay Questions

1. What information does Carrie Rose give about Damian Rose's family?

2. Describe the people who are on trial for murder.

3. Does Damian Rose have the opportunity to kill Peter if he wants to?

4. Describe the meeting in Lathrop Wells, Nevada.

5. How is the murder on the beach similar to the murder of Francis Cichoski, and what is the significance of the similarity?

6. What various motivations are ascribed for the murder?

7. Describe Peter MacDonald

8. How many murders was Campbell originally anticipating, and why does he think there will be more?

9. Describe Turtle Bay.

10. Why would Carrie Rose say in her diary that ordinary farmers with machetes caused heart attacks?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare Damian Rose and Carrie Rose. Damian and Carrie are both killers involved in the same plan. What are their motivations, and how are they different as well as similar? Is one of them more sympathetic than the other? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss power in the novel. The Mafia, the U.S. government, the Roses, and Colonel Dred all want power, and all try to manipulate others for their own means. How do these factions try to gain power, and why? Who ultimately controls the power in the novel? How do the characters maintain power?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the novel's treatment of justice. The action begins in a courtroom, but is justice meted out there? How do different characters (such as Peter, Meral, Carrie, Brooks, and Damian) view and define justice? Is justice possible in the world of the novel? Does Peter's desire for justice turn into a desire for revenge? Is there a difference?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 700 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample