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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 evidence do the police have?

2. With what is the closing ceremony replaced?

3. What did Olmsted ask the people he met on his travels?

4. Whose body do they find at the end of the chapter?

5. How many people die from an explosion?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Minnie and Anna see at the fair?

2. What tragedy occurs in the Rising Wave chapter?

3. What happens to Olmstead in the Recessional chapter?

4. What eventually happens to the Ferris wheel?

5. Why does the New York editor want his fellow editors to apologize to Chicago?

6. What do the police find in Holmes' hotel?

7. Describe the first test runs with the Ferris Wheel.

8. What eventually happens to Burnham and his wife?

9. How does Holmes react to Geyer's finding the bodies?

10. Describe the Spanish Royal Emissary's visit to Chicago.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Devil in the White City is part of the true crime genre.

1) What are the conventions of the true crime genre in terms of character, language and plot?

2) In what way did White City help to set the template for similar novels? Do modern novels still use the ideas used in White City?

Essay Topic 2

Look at the structure of the novel.

1) How does Larson use character and dialogue to drive the narrative?

2) Discuss elements of the narrative structure: exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the novel's themes?

3) Away from the main characters, examine the way Larson uses the other characters in the story. When does he introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss whether you think this statement is true or false: "It is impossible for a book to be an accurate account of events because its first job is to entertain." Use two examples from the novel to support your argument.

(see the answer keys)

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