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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 Goolrick think was the ultimate goal of Butter Day?

2. What allowed the family to begin going to the beach for three weeks a year?

3. What does Goolrick admit about his childhood?

4. What didn't Goolrick attend that most other children attended?

5. What did brother once stick in Goolrick's forehead?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what happened the morning after Goolrick was molested.

2. Explain what happened to Goolrick when he was four years old.

3. Explain what Goolrick means by calling his brother "a sly one" (pg. 124).

4. Summarize Goolrick's experiences during kindergarten and first grade.

5. Describe the events that took place with Roy and Goolrick's brother in the field.

6. What does Goolrick mean when he points out that they boys thought he was one of them?

7. Explain how Goolrick and his siblings coerce their mother into buying things, and how they pay for it.

8. Describe what happened when Goolrick's brother refused to eat when they were children.

9. What does Goolrick make clear in this chapter about his grandmother?

10. Explain that pageants of Mrs. Lackman's classes.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain, in detail, why the burned dress of Goolrick's mother made such an impact on him in "Burn." What did the dresses symbolize to Goolrick, and therefore, what did the damaged dress symbolize? Did Goolrick ever determine what was lost in his family? If so, what was it? If not, what do you think was missing in Goolrick's family?

Essay Topic 2

In addition to Goolrick's sexual deviancy, he also developed a severe drinking and drug habit, and eventually, a cutting habit. Explain these addictions in detail. What events led to the origin of the addiction. What feelings did Goolrick associate with the behavior? How did this lead to an addiction? How did the cutting help Goolrick feel as though he were in control? Do you think Goolrick can ever regain control of his emotions and his life? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

It is clear that Goolrick has developed, over the years, a deviant sense of sexuality. How is this displayed in the novel? What sexual experiences does Goolrick discuss from his early youth and his teenage years that show this deviance? How do these events tie into Goolrick's fear in his teens that he was sexually poisonous, and that his touch would kill others? Why did his masturbation become such an important event to him, and how did that event become frightening and painful? How do you think this effected his overall sexuality later in life?

(see the answer keys)

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