View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Henry think about when he stops to go to the bathroom, in Chapter 5?

2. What is Henry's dog's name?

3. What does Henry plan to do, after entertaining his memories?

4. What does Henry sell to Don Williams?

5. What happened to Henry the summer when he was 15?

Short Essay Questions

1. When and why does Henry begin hitchhiking?

2. What do Henry's parents say about him?

3. What is Henry's experience of the war like?

4. Why does Joe spank Henry?

5. What does Henry find when he gets to the bank?

6. How would you characterize Henry Lightcap's relationships with women?

7. Describe Will's decision to fight in WWII and its effect on the family.

8. Who is Roggoway, and what is Henry's interaction with him?

9. What causes Henry Lightcap to think of Red Ginter?

10. What is Henry's dog's name, and what is its symbolism?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Henry Lightcap's family is half-Shawnee. How much do Native American values matter in 'Fool's Progress'? How is this side of Henry's history represented? Make the argument that 'Fool's Progress' is a novel about the Native American experience. Or make the argument that it is not.

Essay Topic 2

Assess the claim that in Henry Lightcap, Edward Abbey is dramatizing Thoreau's instruction to 'simplify, simplify, simplify'? In what ways is Henry Lightcap simplifying his life? In what ways is he always complicating it? What is the value of the simplicity he espouses?

Essay Topic 3

What is Henry's relationship with his family? In what ways is he a misfit? In what ways is he one of them?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 772 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample