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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. Why doesn’t the grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” want to drive through Georgia?

2. Who’s cabin does Mr. Shiflit walk to?

3. What does the boy in “The River” say his name is (though it isn’t)?

4. Who reappears in “The Heart of the Park”?

5. What does Enoch Emery discover inside the museum?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Ruller afraid something bad is about to happen?

2. How do the boys invade the farm, despite the widow asking them to leave in “A Circle in the Fire”?

3. What happens at the end of “A Circle in the Fire”?

4. Why is Ruller so proud to bring the turkey home to his family?

5. Why is Hazel Motes reluctant to befriend Enoch Emery?

6. Why doesn’t Hazel Wickers believe that the porter’s father was a railroad engineer?

7. Why does Enoch steal the gorilla suit?

8. How is the General dying at the commencement a form of irony?

9. What is O’Connor’s message in “The River”?

10. What is Old Gabriel afraid of besides the wildcat?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mrs. Willerton in “The Crop” uses her fiction to escape into another reality. Analyze Mrs. Willerton’s fictional account to gain a sense of what she really wants in life? For example, what is suggested by Mrs. Willerton initially creating a mean unforgiving wife for Lot Motum? How does Mrs. Willerton come to his rescue? What is suggested by the crop loss and Lot Motum’s response?

Essay Topic 2

Many of the settings in The Complete Stories take place on small farms and in small southern towns. Do you think Flannery O'Connor paints a realistic picture of life in a small town and on a farm? What about small-town southern people?

Essay Topic 3

Racism is a major theme in all of O’Connor’s stories. Discuss your idea of Flannery O'Connor's beliefs about racism. How would her work be received today?

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