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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What beverage do the Smiths drink most often while onboard the ship?
(a) Rum.
(b) Coca-Cola.
(c) Water.
(d) Orange juice.

2. Why is Brown on the military base near Santo Domingo?
(a) To apply for a catering job.
(b) To visit his mother's brother.
(c) To make a political connection.
(d) To apply for an exit visa.

3. How much Latin does Brown remember from his early education?
(a) Only one line.
(b) Only Virgil's poetry.
(c) Nothing.
(d) Everything he reads.

4. At the beginning of Part 2, Chapter 2, what do Brown and Martha quarrel about?
(a) The ambassador's new dog.
(b) Jones staying at the embassy.
(c) Angel's new school.
(d) Their future.

5. Why does Joseph limp?
(a) He was wounded in the war.
(b) The Tonton Macoutes beat him up.
(c) A jeep had run over his foot.
(d) He had a childhood disease that crippled him.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Jones name the ambassador's new dog?

2. What is the one meal Jones eats in jail?

3. According to the note Doctor Magiot received, where is young Philipot?

4. During the ship's night of entertainment, what does Mr. Baxter recite?

5. As Doctor Magiot and Brown are talking, Petit Pierre arrives. Why does he come?

Short Essay Questions

1. From a literary aspect, what is the effect of portraying Jones as an actor who has not learned his lines well? Why does the author use this characterization throughout the book?

2. Petit Pierre is introduced at the beginning of Part 1, Chapter 2. What purpose does his character play? How is he similar to Brown?

3. Throughout Chapter 1 of Part 1, the captain advises people to stay in touch with their respective consulates. Why is this, and how does it set the tone of the book?

4. Brown spends approximately one day in the Dominican Republic as he tries to get money and an exit visa. How does this country differ from Haiti? What changes does Brown note in the people, attitudes, buildings, and scenery?

5. With the thought that Doctor Philipot's spirit might be hovering around the body, hoping for an encouraging word of send-off, Brown purposely speaks trivial words about eating eggs in the morning. What does this tell the reader about his perception of death? How does it fit the tone of the book?

6. When Brown and Mr. Smith visit the Secretary of State, hoping to free Jones, how is Brown successful? Why is Mr. Smith's bluntness ineffective?

7. Brown observes, following his disastrous conversation with Angel, that the quality which attracts him in a woman is not beauty but goodness. How is this similar to Jones's pursuit of virtue? Why does he find goodness in Martha?

8. Once again, in Part 1, Chapter 4, Brown is asked to look out for Jones and any suspicious activity he may be involved in. How is this instance similar to the first? How does it differ? What changes might be attributed to a greater understanding of Jones's character?

9. Brown worries that Martha enjoys Jones's company, especially when she says it is because he makes the family laugh. Why is Brown so concerned? Does he feel that his relationship with Martha is threatened because of Jones?

10. Throughout Part 1, Chapter 4, the reader sees an interplay of men in power. How does this affect the story? In this situation, does power have meaning?

(see the answer keys)

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