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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 psychical feature gives away how long Will was in the cave?

2. Where did Father Weatherbee spend fifty years of his life?

3. What past life experience does Kitty think that Allison had?

4. What is the morning movie the day that Will leave to go find Allison?

5. What event did Will miss while he was in the cave and at Allison's greenhouse?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Will is thinking things over in his Mercedes, what does he decide the name of the century should be?

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

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

4. Why does Will end up needing to be in Dr. Vance's daily care?

5. What forces Will to leave the cave?

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

7. What skills do the three old guys who Will befriends in the convalescent home possess?

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

9. When Will sees himself in the mirror of his Mercedes after leaving the greenhouse, what does he think he looks like?

10. How does Allison feel about doing the errands that Will asks her to do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Will and Allison are both attuned to nature, noticing clouds, grass, trees, birds, ants, and so on, throughout the course of the novel. Discuss Walker Percy's use of nature in the novel and how the appreciation of nature contributes to Will and Allison's characters.

Essay Topic 2

Money can't buy happiness, but as some of the characters in the novel show, it can certainly buy other things. Discuss the theme of wealth in the novel, using Will, Allison, and Jack Curl to show how their different attitudes towards money provide different perspectives in the novel. Provide specific 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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