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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. While Cyndi is drunk in Chapter 3, she talks about her time where?
2. What business in Memphis does Fay's uncle run?
3. What do John and Fay look at immediately upon entering the battlefield in Chapter 4?
4. What injury did Tommy Lawson suffer at work?
5. What is Mr. Woodmoore's career?
Short Essay Questions
1. Describe the interchange John has with Cyndi in Chapter 4?
2. Describe John Nickel's experience at the Rum Boogie Cafe.
3. Describe the interchange between John and Fay in Chapter 5.
4. Where do John and Fay travel in Chapter 4?
5. Describe the frantic call that John gets at the end of the Chapter 1?
6. What does Taft worry about regarding his children in Chapter 5?
7. Who does Fay introduce John to Chapter 2?
8. Why did John return to Marion?
9. What call does John Nickel make at work in Chapter 2?
10. What do Marion and John discuss at the end of Chapter 5?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
The novel of "Taft" has a major character's death at the center of its narrative, and the ramifications of this death serve as a dire warning to the other characters. Write an essay about death and the fear of death in "Taft". How does Taft's death ripple through the narrative of the novel? How does its effect confirm John's fears about Franklin? What does he worry will happen if he disappears from his son's life?
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay about Levon Taft, and how he is largely a creation of John Nickel's imagination. Why would John Nickel become fixated on Taft? How does he become aware of Taft's existence and death? Discuss the origin of the information in the Taft narrative: his first name, his car, and his various jobs. When would John have heard about these details? Discuss how the final chapter involves John's complete immersion in a Taft construction.
Essay Topic 3
One of the central plotlines of the novel is the relationship between John Nickel and John Taft. This relationship is odd in that it does not abandon itself to the sexual tension around it. Write a three-part essay, analyzing this relationship:
Part 1) What is John Nickel's initial impression of Fay Taft, and why does he decide to bring her on to staff at Muddy's? Discuss how the relationship between Fay and John develops in the first weeks. How does it shift on the night that Carl overdoses?
Part 2) Discuss how John and Fay's impromptu trip to Shiloh helps develop the relationship between them. Why do they go? What is each character looking for from the other in these passages? What act of tenderness occurs at the end of the night?
Part 3) How does the relationship between John and Fay become a romantic relationship? What events help catalyze this shift? What kind of reaction does this receive from those around them, and how does the romantic entanglement effectively end?
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This section contains 1,106 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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