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

2. At the beginning of Part 1, Chapter 5, what distractions does Brown experience?
(a) Martha is irate; the grocer tries to collect the money he's owed.
(b) Jones has escaped from jail; Angel has pneumonia.
(c) Doctor Philipot's body is found; Angel has the mumps.
(d) Joseph is arrested at the market; Mr. Smith discovers Doctor Philipot's body.

3. When Brown steps off the ship, who fills the port?
(a) Taxi drivers.
(b) Beggars.
(c) Postal employees.
(d) Tonton Macoutes.

4. While going through his mother's desk after she dies, what did Brown find in the piggy bank?
(a) Outdated currency from the previous government.
(b) A folded picture of a man whom Brown does not recognize.
(c) A casino token and a medal from the resistance movement.
(d) A few pounds of English money.

5. How did Marcel kill himself?
(a) Drank two bottles of rum and contracted alcohol poisoning.
(b) Slit his wrists and throat.
(c) Jumped out a second-story window into the empty pool.
(d) Hung himself in the countess's bedroom.

Short Answer Questions

1. How often to Brown and Martha talk or argue about Angel?

2. Why is Brown on the military base near Santo Domingo?

3. After staying at the Hotel Trianon for two days, what is Mrs. Smith's opinion about Joseph?

4. Why is Brown not afraid to smuggle Philipot's body off his property?

5. Starting in Part 1, Chapter 1, what problem does Brown have with Jones's name?

Short Essay Questions

1. From the conversation with his mother, what does Brown learn about his father? How is this knowledge in keeping with the family dynamic?

2. When Brown first mentions his hotel to the passengers aboard the Medea, he shows them bright postcards of bikini-clad girls and jazz drummers. Does this present Brown as an optimist or a pessimist? What do the postcards tell the reader about his character?

3. 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?

4. In Chapter 1 of Part 1, Brown and Jones meet as Jones is attempting to bribe the steward to switch their rooms. How is this first scene indicative of Jones's character?

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. 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?

7. In Part 1, Chapter 3, why does Brown tell the story of his lost virginity? How does his youthful past tie into his present relationship?

8. Martha and Brown rendezvous for the first time in her car by the Columbus statue. What is the nature of this meeting and how does it set the tone for their relationship?

9. In Part 1, Chapter 5, Brown notes that he cannot remember Martha's voice, though he can picture her handwriting. What clue does this give the reader about their relationship?

10. When Mr. Smith sees Philipot's body in the pool, he thinks he is a sleeping beggar. How does this thought reflect on Mr. Smith's character? What about the fact that he wants to take money to the man?

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