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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. Who does Gemma ask to go and fetch the coroner after Jules dies in her house?

2. What does Gemma reply to her daughter's question asking if Indians can go to heaven?

3. What is the name of the man who helps Gig and Rye escape the police?

4. Why does Rye get out of jail earlier than most of the other men?

5. How did Gig's and Rye's sister die?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does Rye ask Fred Moore, his lawyer, to find after Rye gets out of jail, and what has happened to Gig?

2. Why do the police let Jules out of jail and where does he go?

3. What are the conditions in the jail that Rye and Gig are in like?

4. What does Ursula, Margaret Anne Burns, learn from the First Ursula, Edith?

5. Why does Rye get arrested at the labor rally in Part I?

6. What does Rye think of Lemuel Brand's house?

7. Where does the IWW's nickname come from?

8. What kind of relationship does Ursula forge with First Ursula?

9. What does Gemma tell Dominick Jules thought about burial practices when he was young?

10. Why does Rye follow Gig to the labor protests in Part I even though Gig tells him not to?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Walter chose to write this novel from many different first-person perspectives - Gig's, Ursula's, Dalveaux's, Gurley's, and, finally, Rye's - and what effect does this choice have on the reader's experience? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

How does Rye's first-person-narrated section at the very end of the novel change the way the reader feels about him? Why do you think Rye chose not to get more involved in activism following the advent of Gig's death, and instead chose a quiet life of steady hard work? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

How does Walter express, explain, and highlight the violence that beset labor activists in the early 1900s in America? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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