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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 does Caddy name her daughter after?

2. Where is Luster driving Benjy to?

3. What can Benjy smell when he goes out into the cold?

4. Why does the store owner employ Jason?

5. What does Caroline wish for the sake of her husband and children?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Jason Compton's role in the novel.

2. What is Quentin's relationship with his sister Caddy?

3. Why is Benjy's section so hard to understand?

4. Why do you think both Caddy and Quentin continuously search for love elsewhere?

5. What does Benjy remember about his brother Quentin?

6. Do you think Luster understands Benjy?

7. Describe Uncle Maury's role in the novel.

8. Why does Benjy's mother change his name from Maury to Benjamin?

9. Describe Caddy's role in the novel.

10. Summarize the novel.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What kind of mental illness do you think Benjy has? How does his illness affect the other members of the family? Do you think the family allow his illness to affect them too much? What ways do you think they could deal with Benjy better?

Essay Topic 2

Dilsey can be aggressive towards Jason. How do you think a black person role had changed in the 1920s since the days of slavery? Does Jason ever try to keep control of Dilsey?

Essay Topic 3

In what way does Faulkner express Benjy and Quentin's obsessive behavior? Why do you think Jason is the only narrator not to have obsessive behavior? What meaning does it give to his character and the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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