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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 Allison able to do at the auto shop that surprises her?

2. Who is it that Will Barrett thinks about when he collapses on the green during the first golf game?

3. Who is Norma Jean?

4. What does Will Barrett see as a sign that the end of the world might be near at hand?

5. What does Allison say woke her up?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Allison talk to the man in the garage of Washau Motors about?

2. What does Will think his father was trying to tell him on that hunting trip?

3. How does Allison get the large iron cook stove into the greenhouse?

4. What restores the "missing ninety-eight percent" of Will's personality?

5. What does Allison realize that she forgot to ask when she arrives at Washau Motors?

6. What does the story about the man who survives the plane crash mean to Allison?

7. What is the first time Will Barrett's deceased wife is mentioned?

8. When Allison's parents have a conference alone with Dr. Duk, what does she find out that instigates her escape?

9. What happens when Will enters the greenhouse on his second visit?

10. What is it that Will Barrett realizes when he falls down during the golf game at the opening of the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several of the characters in the novel are very religious; two are men of the cloth. Discuss the significance of religion in the novel. Does religion help shape the plot? Does it play a major role in the character development? What about the central conflict of the novel? Does religion play a role in that as well?

Essay Topic 2

Walker Percy revisits several themes or motifs throughout the novel including: memory, mental illness, self-discovery, independence, religion, nature, and love. Can you think of other themes or motifs from the novel? Write an essay discussing the most important theme or motif from the novel; that is, the one you think the author discusses the most or seems to feature as being the most important. Provide examples from the text to support your argument.

Essay Topic 3

Two of the main characters, Will and Allison, are both diagnosed with a form of mental illness in the novel. Discuss the theme of mental illness and how Walker Percy treats these two "mentally ill" characters versus the "mentally healthy" characters. What do you think this difference indicates about the author's position on the treatment of mentally ill patients? Use examples from the text and compare and contrast the treatment of Will and Allison with two other "mentally healthy" characters.

(see the answer keys)

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