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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. By what type of animal is Rusty attacked?

2. Book Two opens how many years after the events of Book One?

3. Where do Hayes and Macklin's armies do battle?

4. What happens to the contents of the wagon that belongs to Swan and her companions?

5. What happens to the evil man when Josh fights him?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Rusty save Swan?

2. How does Roland feel about Macklin during the fighting with the American Allegiance and Mary's Rest?

3. What happens between Swan and the evil man at the apple truck?

4. How has the Army of Excellence evolved since the events of Book One?

5. What is Sister's mission, and what signs guide her on the way?

6. What is revealed when Swan's mask falls off?

7. How is Swan trapped and then freed?

8. What arrangements does the evil man make with the Army of Excellence?

9. What preparation does the town make to defend itself from the Army of Excellence?

10. How does touching the glass ring for the first time change Swan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Leona introduces the theme of inner and outward beauty when she meets Swan. Soon after, the Job's Masks begin to take effect on many survivors.

1) Explain Leona's comments about a person's inner and outward face.

2) Discuss the impact that the Job's masks have on their wearers before the masks' real function becomes widely known.

3) Describe the function of Job's Masks and use specific examples to explain how they help to reflect a person's inner beauty or ugliness.

4) Speculate as to the intent and purpose behind the Job's Masks and describe what kind of a being would have an interest in bringing about the masks' observed effects.

Essay Topic 2

After the nuclear blasts, people try to recover and form new communities. The people in these settlements are often just at the brink of survival and are extremely wary of losing their precarious position. The communities are small and poor. Their suffering is still widespread.

1) Discuss how settlements and communities form in the time after the blasts. What resources cause communities to gather at particular points?

2) Explain the economies and social arrangements in post-blast communities.

3) Use specific examples from the book to explain ways in which residents of these communities deal with outsiders and potential threats.

Essay Topic 3

Forgiveness is an essential component of the plot from the beginning of the novel through to the very end. It is a critical element of the goodness that Swan shares with the world and allows her to change people, to heal communities, and to triumph effortlessly over evil.

1) Explain how Swan demonstrates her capacity for forgiveness throughout the novel, citing specific examples.

2) Discuss the way that other characters perceive the act of forgiveness. What does Sister believe about forgiveness? How is her belief denied or confirmed in the plot?

3) What impact does forgiveness have on Friend? How does Swan use this, without exerting any effort, to defeat Friend at every encounter?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 932 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample