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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 time of day is it when Kitty wakes Will in his car?

2. What is the area of the cave called where Will makes his nesting place?

3. What does Will want to do when he leaves the country club parking lot?

4. What makes Will jump out of the car and pace?

5. What nickname does Will give his father when he is talking to him in his head?

Short Essay Questions

1. What plan do Allison and Will make for their futures?

2. What makes Allison feel like she needs another person in her life?

3. What urgent message does Bernie have for Will when Will gets back home after being away in the cave and the greenhouse?

4. Where does Will take Allison when they leave the greenhouse?

5. Where has Will's daughter, Leslie, moved while he has been away at the cave and the greenhouse?

6. What is the first thing Kitty says after Will recognizes her when she wakes him up in his car in the parking lot?

7. What forces Will to leave the cave?

8. What does Allison enjoy about taking care of Will that makes her think she should nurse comatose patients?

9. What news does Kitty tell Will about her family when they talk in the parking lot of the country club?

10. Why does Will get into a fight with Kitty at the nursing home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Will often refers to the exodus of the Jews from North Carolina as a sign. How does Walker Percy use this motif in the novel? What does Will's fixation with the Jews signify in his personal life? What does it come to mean to the reader? Write an essay in which you discuss the motif and the ways in which the author uses the motif to develop Will's character.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay discussing what Will is searching for in the novel The Second Coming. Use examples from the text to support your thesis. Is he searching for God, for love, for meaning, for a purpose, or something else entirely?

(see the answer keys)

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