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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. Who is George McCutchson?

2. What lie does Henry tell Thorpe?

3. What does George remember about Gramma and Grampa and their church?

4. How does Davidson feel about the way Henry left?

5. Why is George summoned from his meeting with Greer?

Short Essay Questions

1. Gramma is fat, flabby, blind, and smells funny. She also often wears a sly, frightening appearance. Do you think she plays up her frightening aspects to keep the family in line?

2. Rumor had it that Gramma was a witch and apparently became one because she could not carry a baby to term. Do you think Gramma was justified to dabble in witchcraft to attain her dream?

3. What type of irony can be found within "Survivor Type"? Be sure to use examples from the text to support your theory.

4. Rocky is dismayed and angered that the milkman, Spike, impregnated his wife. Spike seems not the least bit intimidated, possibly even enjoying Rocky's discomfort. Do you think Spike did what he did in order to specifically anger Rocky, or do you think Spike doesn't care what anyone thinks?

5. Often, a killer's choice of weapon will say a lot about that person. What do you think Spike's method of operation and choice of weapon say about him?

6. Compare Henry and Reg and how their relationship affected them both.

7. Reg likely suffers from a serious mental illness, yet Henry continues to encourage Reg's fantasies. What do you think was Henry's motivating factor?

8. Foreshadowing is when an event early in the story hints at an event to take place later in the story. Find an example of foreshadowing in "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands." Cite the foreshadowing event and the event it foreshadows.

9. Richard Pine is a man who has made his fortune as a surgeon with his hands, but the rest of his life has been shady and complicated. However, through it all, he protected his hands. How do you think he felt when his hands were the only things he had left, and he was faced with eating those for survival?

10. Quentin seems terrified of Uncle Otto's truck himself, especially after seeing first hand what happened to Uncle Otto. What does Quentin fear the most?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Nona" is a story about a man who seems to be under the influence of an odd woman named Nona. Under her influence, he commits murder like he's been doing it all of his life. At the end of the story, Nona turns into a rat and the narrator leaves a suicide note. What do you think King's plot is in this story? Following the winding, sometimes foggy, storyline is at times difficult. What do you think the point of the story is, and what is the point of the narrator's suicide?

Essay Topic 2

Charles seems to be a boy with a very active imagination. In "Here There Be Tygers," what appears to be the motivating factor for Charles's tiger lurking in the bathroom (or basement as he calls it)? Is it fear, revenge, motivation, or possibly something else that makes the tiger real for him?

Essay Topic 3

Conflict in any story or novel is developed by interaction between protagonist and antagonist. Choose any one of the stories in "Skeleton Crew" and identify the protagonist and antagonist in the story and the conflict that develops between them. What does this add to the story?

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