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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. In Chapter 8, What does Fay pointedly ask John?

2. How many shifts in a row is Taft planning to work in Chapter 8?

3. What does Taft give Tommy Lawson's boy to cool him off?

4. In the beginning of the Taft section of Chapter 12, where is Virginia?

5. Where does Carl call Muddy's from in Chapter 9?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is John deeply gladdened by his morning with Marion and Franklin in Chapter 11?

2. What assessment does the mechanic in Chapter 10 make regarding Taft's car?

3. What difficulty do John and Fay face in bailing Carl out in Chapter?

4. Why does Taft ask his children to stay home Friday night?

5. How do Carl and John bond in Chapter 7?

6. How do Ruth, Fay and Cyndi gang up on John at the beginning of Chapter 9?

7. How is John shot in Chapter 11?

8. What is John's catharsis at the end of Taft?

9. What does Wallace tell John about Carl in Chapter 8?

10. Why is Taft shaken by the site of Carl's accident in Chapter 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

John Nickel is a deeply sympathetic character, but his self-destructive tendencies come into view whenever he becomes sexually entangled with a woman. Write an essay about three such of these entanglements. How does each begin and how does each develop? What personal weaknesses do these trysts reveal in John? What mental anguish do they unearth? Does John overcome this anguish by the end of the novel? If so, how?

Part 1) Marion

Part 2) Ruth

Part 3) Fay

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

One of Anne Patchett's great gifts in dramatizing the moments between parents and children that typify the beauty of this type of relationship. Three such moments can be seen as pivotal moments in the novel. Write an essay about these three transcendent moment in the novel:

Part 1) Discuss the evening visit between Taft and Fay at the lumber yard. Why does Fay decide to interrupt her date to visit her father? In what respect is it a gift he desperately needs? How does this visit change his feelings about his relationship with his daughter?

Part 2) Discuss the moment in Chapter 11 that leaves John Nickel glowing. What does Franklin say he remembers about John, and why does this surprise John? How does it shift his thoughts regarding whether or not to reunite with Marion?

Part 3) Discuss the final passage of "Taft". How does is signify the perfect relationship between father and child? What is being taught by the parent, and how does the child receive the knowledge? What does this say about the joys and fears of parenthood?

(see the answer keys)

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