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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. On what day does Harrison announce his upcoming marriage?

2. Where does Geyer think Howard died?

3. What does the wind cause the Ferris Wheel to do?

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

5. Where does Mrs. Pitezel learn that her children's bodies have been discovered?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Geyer find in Toronto?

2. What happens to the Ferris Wheel during the windstorm?

3. What happens to Olmstead in the Recessional chapter?

4. How does Holmes seduce Georgianna?

5. What happens to Chicago after the Exposition is finished?

6. What does McKim write in his letter in the Departures chapter?

7. In what way can the characters of Burnham and Holmes be compared?

8. What tragedy occurs in the Rising Wave chapter?

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

10. What does Burnham manage to prove to the world?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the city of Chicago before the fair to the city of Chicago after the fair. How did the fair affect the city in terms of the following:

1) Crime

2) Jobs

3) Tourism

Essay Topic 2

Examine the depression of 1893.

1) How bad was the 1893 depression? How long did it last?

2) How did Chicago made such a success of the Exposition when there was a depression going on?

3) How could the authorities justify spending so much money on one event when people were struggling?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 651 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample