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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 does Willard tells Arvin when Willard comes to the clearing?

2. Where has Sandy been driving?

3. What does Arvin watch Willard do?

4. Who is Lee Bodecker?

5. Who does Theodore manipulate Roy into killing?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Willard exact his revenge on the hunters later, and what does he say to Arvin about the incident?

2. What does Roy do that causes the crowd to panic?

3. Describe the church revival Willard attends with Emma.

4. What is the phone call about that Bodecker receives and what does Bodecker conclude?

5. How does Roy end up killing Helen?

6. What does Willard do after Charlotte's funeral?

7. At what does Dunlap hint to Willard one day when Willard goes to pay his rent?

8. Where is Willard going and what is he thinking about as he travels in Chapter 1?

9. About what does Deputy Sheriff Bodecker fantasize?

10. What does Willard confess to Emma and what is Emma's reaction?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Often, authors will write about "what they know," and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting. Discuss the following:

1. Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Donald Ray Pollock.

2. What in Pollock's background may have helped him in writing "The Devil All the Time"? What may have influenced the way he depicts various characters and scenes?

3. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples.

Essay Topic 2

Many novels, and perhaps a majority, of novels ends on a happy note. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think many (most?) people want what they perceive as a happy or good ending to a novel? Explain your opinion. Do you? Why or why not?

2. What are three reasons to read fiction? Discuss each one in light of "The Devil All the Time" and whether or not it fulfills all three, two or one of the reasons you mention. Give examples as to why "The Devil All the Time" is or is not successful in fulfilling the reasons you discuss.

3. Do you think reading solely for entertainment is as good a reason to read as any other? Why or why not? Can any work of fiction or non-fiction, no matter how poorly written, enlighten, teach, stimulate thought? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

The sacrifice of the dog Jack could, in all likelihood, be as shocking to the reader as it is to Arvin, so brutal and callous is Willard's action. The traumatizing effect the experience has on Arvin becomes plain later on two occasions later in the narrative - when he vows to never forget Jack and when at the novel's conclusion, he finally gives Jack's bones a decent burial. Given the connection between Jack and Arvin, just about the only character who comes out of the narrative with anything like a sense of hope or possibility, it may be that Jack can be seen as a metaphoric representation of Jesus. Not only was Jesus was sacrificed in what amounts to an act of gratuitous violence just like Jack is, but more importantly, Jack becomes, for Arvin, a symbol of hope and redemption, as Jesus has become for Christians all over the world.

1. Discuss the possibility of the symbolism of Jack to Jesus. Use examples from your life and the text to support your answer.

2. How do you think Arvin was changed by seeing Jack killed? Use examples from your life and the text to support your answer.

3. Why do you think that seeing Jack killed may have helped Arvin remain one of the only moral characters in the book? Use examples from your life and the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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