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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. What makes Jones sad about dressing as a woman?

2. Who shoots Captain Concasseur and rescues Brown and Jones from capture?

3. At the beginning of Part 1, Chapter 3, as the Smiths are being driven to the airport, what does Mr. Smith do?

4. As Jones is escaping from Port-au-Prince, why are he and Brown two hours late for their rendezvous?

5. What is Jones's opinion about swindling the educated people?

Short Essay Questions

1. Young Philipot, who visits Brown while he is swimming one early afternoon, is consumed with the idea of owning a Bren gun and fighting Papa Doc's army with it. In his idealism, what other character does he resemble and why?

2. Why do the Smiths change their minds about opening a vegetarian center? How does the Secretary for Social Welfare misunderstand Mr. Smith?

3. From even their first meeting, Brown hesitates to address Jones as "Major Jones." How does this begin to explain Jones's character? How does it prepare the reader for the revelation that Jones has never even seen a man die?

4. While lying in bed in the Hotel Trianon, Martha notes to brown that their relationship is no longer an adventure. What are the signs of this change? What are their choices for the future?

5. When Brown's car breaks down on the road, he and Jones take refuge in a cemetery until the morning. How does this fit their time in Haiti? How does it portend what is to come?

6. According to Doctor Magiot in Part 2, Chapter 1, what role does Voodoo play in Haitian culture? What is its relation to Catholicism?

7. What is the significance of saying Doctor Philipot's coffin is filled with bricks?

8. When Jones realizes that Captain Conasseur is curious about his actions, he comes to Brown's hotel in a panic. What does this tell us about Jones's plan to get rich? How prepared is he to deal with the Tonton Macoutes?

9. At the end of Part 2, Chapter 1, Brown comes to a realization about himself. What is this realization? How does it change the reader's understanding of him? How does it fit with his wandering to the casino and then to the Medea, talking with the purser?

10. The night before he takes Jones out of Port-au-Prince, Brown wanders through his empty hotel. What does it reveal to the reader about Brown's personality? What is the effect of this scene?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role does Angel play in the novel? Could it be said that he acts as Brown's conscience, or is he merely an annoying child? Why is Martha so attached to him and how does this attachment change her relationship with Brown?

Essay Topic 2

Examine Brown from a literary standpoint. As the narrator of the story, is he reliable? What advantages are there in telling the story from his standpoint? Is he able to provide an advantage which an omniscient narrator might not? How does his viewpoint color the entire story?

Essay Topic 3

The new Secretary for Social Welfare is the only government official who has any real part in the novel. Examine his character traits as presented by Brown in his conversation and actions. How does his character reflect the whole government? How is he a representative of Papa Doc? Is his official title hopeful or ironic?

(see the answer keys)

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