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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 wrote the book The Plover, a quote from which Walter begins Part I?

2. Which police officer in Spokane is known for his brutality?

3. What does Brand ask Rye when he visits Brand's house in Chapter 13?

4. What promise had Brand made First Ursula and then gone back on?

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

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 come and start beating up the men on the ballfield in Part I?

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

4. What happens to Jules when two men steal the raft of the ferryman Plante from him in 1864?

5. What does Jules hope for Rye after seeing him once while they are both in jail and Rye tells Jules he is sorry?

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

7. What does Jules's mother tell him might get him killed one day?

8. How does Rye eventually get out of jail earlier than expected?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the relationship between the police, the wealthy ruling classes and industrialists, and the labor activists? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Why do you think Early Reston saves Gig and Rye at several points in the book, only to kill Gig at the end? What do you think Walter was trying to communicate to the reader about the time, place, and cultural atmosphere through Reston's character? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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