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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. How does Mel describe Noni?

2. What year is it when Mel is in the church camp listening to the young seminarian preach?

3. What does Ted confess to Mel one night?

4. Whom does Mel meet around the end of his senior year in high school?

5. In what field does Mel begin a doctorate?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Peter W.? What does White write about the young man?

2. Who is Jeffrey S. and what is his story?

3. What does White say is Martin Luther King's belief about Christian involvement in social change, and how does White feel about his response?

4. What was Lyla like in middle school?

5. What is Mel's memories of a boy named Darrel at camp?

6. What does White worry about on his honeymoon, and how does he solve the problem?

7. What does White start to pursue concerning his feelings of attraction to other men?

8. Describe Mel's brief involvement with Ted.

9. Describe how Mel and Lyla met.

10. Why does Mel think his grandmother Noni was so zealous?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Stranger at the Gate is a memoir by Mel White. Discuss the following:

1. Define the word "genre" in the context of literary criticism.

2. Why do you think literature is categorized by genre?

3. Does it help to know how a book is categorized as to its genre before reading it? Explain.

4. Memoir used to be considered inferior to what are considered "the classics." Why do you think this is so? Do you believe a book such as Stranger at the Gate is inferior to something such as A Tale of Two Cities? Explain.

5. What is your favorite genre and why?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the following:

1. Thoroughly discuss the character of Mel White. What are his strengths? Weaknesses? How does he evolve over the course of the story? (or does he?) Is he likable at the beginning of the story? At the end of the book? Is he trustworthy? Wise? Would you want him as a friend? As an opponent? Do you think he is loving? Compassionate? Accepting? Tolerant?

2. Thoroughly discuss the character of Lyla. What are her strengths? Weaknesses? How does she evolve over the course of the story? Is she likable at the beginning of the story? At the end of the book? Do you think she is loving? Compassionate? Accepting? Tolerant?

3. Thoroughly discuss two other persons of your choosing. What are their strengths? Weaknesses? How do they evolve over the course of the story? (or do they?) Are they likable at the beginning of the story? At the end of the book? Are they trustworthy? Wise? Would you want them as friends? Are they likely to be opponents to your way of life? Do you think each one is loving? Compassionate? Accepting? Tolerant?

Essay Topic 3

Stranger at the Gate takes place predominantly in the 1950s--1980s in California and Texas. Discuss the following:

1. Research and discuss the religious climate and theology of mainstream Christianity during the 1950s--1980s. How do you think the religious milieu informs the life of Mel White? Explain.

2. Discuss the lives of White and his social group in light of Christianity of that time. Do their behaviors seem consistent with the basic doctrines of Christianity?

3. How do you think Mel's life would be different if he were a teenager today?

4. How important do you think it is to understand the setting of a book? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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