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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 John know the woman at Rum Boogie Cafe?

2. In Chapter 5, what still amazes John about the Woodmoores?

3. In Chapter 5, what does Fay say she would have named her son?

4. Who apologizes to John before he leaves to pick up Fay in Chapter 4?

5. Why does John give up admonishing Eddie's father in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did John Nickel leave Marion?

2. Why does Levon Taft dislike his in-laws?

3. What does John imagine at the end of Chapter 4?

4. Describe John and Fay's first kiss.

5. Describe John Nickel's experience at the Rum Boogie Cafe.

6. How is Levon Taft's life described in Chapter 5?

7. Describe the interchange between Carl and John in Chapter 4?

8. What does John learn about Marion at dinner in Chapter 5?

9. Where do John and Fay travel in Chapter 4?

10. What do John and Fay do at the battlefield in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, many of Carl Taft's true objectives remain unknown to John Nickel and the reader. Write an essay discussing how these objectives are obscured and finally revealed. What drives Carl after his arrival in Memphis, and why is he treated as a lovable screw-up? How does this notion of his harmlessness prove to be incorrect? Discuss how Patchett reveals the fallacy of this notion, and what changes in the world of the novel after it is revealed.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the narrative structure of "Taft" in an essay. What two narratives comprise the story of the novel? How does Patchett interweave the two plotlines? To what extent does the reader already know the outcome of one of these plots? Discuss the ways the author is able to comment on over narrative with the other? What thematic elements does each share?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the tenuous relationship between John and Marion in the novel. How did they discover each other, and what was the root of their infatuation? Discuss how the birth of Franklin forever changes the nature of this relationship? Throughout the plot of the novel, what do Marion and John want from each other and what obstacles prevent their relationship from flourishing or forever fading away?

(see the answer keys)

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