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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 organization was Snapper's parents involved in when he was young?

2. At the end of Chapter 8, what happens to Gil Peck?

3. What does Snapper walk away with after meeting Mrs. Whitmark?

4. What does Skink do every time Max asks him if Skink is going to shoot him?

5. Why does Snapper call Avila?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Edie and Snapper's plan surprise the reader now that it is revealed in their conversation with Tony in Chapter 4?

2. What conversation do Bonnie and Augustine share that makes it seem as though the two are becoming close?

3. How has Skink become even more frightening as a character in Chapter 9?

4. Why and how does Bonnie question her choice of a husband?

5. The plot thickens as the reader discovers the depth that Edie and Snapper will go to in order to make money. What is their plan and how do they execute it?

6. What insight does Augustine have concerning Skink that Max does not?

7. How is the author being satirical in the characterization of Tony Torres?

8. What kind of a character is Augustine? Please support your answer with evidence from the book.

9. What does the reader learn of Augustine's background that leads to him being a more dynamic character?

10. What surprising news does Bonnie hear from Pete and how does it change the dynamic of her marriage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the internal conflicts of Augustine, Snapper, Edie and Skink? Are they ever resolved?

Essay Topic 2

How is Avila's need to hold sacrificial ceremonies black humor? Note specific places in the novel that show this humor. What is the author trying to tell the reader through these rituals?

Essay Topic 3

Is there a hero in the novel? An anti-hero? If there is a hero who is it and why? If not, how does the lack of a hero affect the novel? Does there need to be a hero in this novel? If there is an anti-hero -- who is it and why?

(see the answer keys)

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