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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 happens when Lucas's mother discovers Connor in Lucas's room in Chapter 15?

2. What is the last thing Lucas's mother says to him?

3. In Chapter 15, why does Connor come by to see Lucas the morning after the NA meeting?

4. What message did Zoe once ask Roy to take to the family of one of the dead children?

5. Why does Roy say they loved Zoe so much even though she was scary?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Roy come home from Vietnam?

2. What was wrong with Lucas's letters to Roy?

3. What does Darren tell Lucas about Roy?

4. What story does Joe tell at the NA meeting?

5. When Lucas drops the gun into the river, he tells the river, "You owe me one." What does he mean?

6. Why is Lucas not there when Darren talks to Roy?

7. According to Connor, why is it helpful to talk with Zoe?

8. How was it that Zoe came to attempt suicide?

9. Describe Lucas's relationship with Harris.

10. How does Roy react to Joe's offer to help?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In an essay, explain the importance of Lucas's relationship with Libby to the development of one or more of the novel's main ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Most of the novel is set in the summer of 1969, but the final chapter takes place 50 years later. In an essay, consider how this affects the novel's central messages.

Essay Topic 3

Using Part I and Part II of the novel as evidence, write an essay in which you consider what the author seems to be saying about parents in the late 1960s.

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