View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Kabuo visited Carl Heine to discuss buying back his family's property

2. Gillanders speculates that Kabuo could not have

3. Hatsue testifies that after Kabuo's initial meeting with Carl Heine, Jr., Kabuo was

4. At the trial, Susan Marie's demeanor inspires

5. Alvin Hooks suggests that what really happened out at sea that night was that

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Moran suspect the blow to Carl Heine's head was from a kendo stick?

2. What is the irony behind the power failure in the middle of this trial?

3. Describe what Ishmael discovered in the Coast Guard radioman's notes.

4. What scenario has prosecutor, Alvin Hooks, cooked up to try to bolster his case against Kabuo?

5. Why does Guterman get so graphic about the sex lives of Carl and Susan Marie Heine?

6. Why do you think Ishmael does not tell his mother about the records he found at the Coast Guard office?

7. Does Sergeant Maples have any personal motives for seeming to incriminate Kabuo in his testimony?

8. Things are looking grim for Kabuo Miyamoto. Why does the fishing gaff appear to be the perfect weapon for Kabuo to have used to murder Carl Heine, Jr.

9. Why does the author refer more than once to the smell of snow?

10. What does Guterson mean when he says that, "...the prosecutor, knew well the value of a Susan Marie Heine."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Check out the state of the salmon fishing industry and whether it is thriving or diminishing in the Pacific Northwest. Provide your reader with information regarding the ecological conditions that are required for salmon to thrive, and whether these have changed or improved over the past several decades. In addition, determine salmon's nutritional value, its importance in the human diet and in the diets of its predators.

Essay Topic 2

World War II was devastating in so many ways. Although this story is not a war story, the war and its effects are threaded throughout, affecting everyone in San Piedro Island. Write an essay, choosing three characters, and expand on the ways that the war affects their lives, their decisions, their thinking and their actions.

Essay Topic 3

If you live by the ocean, this should be an easy assignment. What are some of the disadvantages to living close to the seashore? Write a paper for someone in the Midwest who has never seen the ocean, and describe the hardships and difficulties of living on a coastline. Be convincing.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 940 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample