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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. Who is Red Ginter?

2. What did Elaine do in response to Henry's hurting her feelings?

3. What does Henry do after firing his shot?

4. When did Henry begin hitchhiking?

5. Where does Henry get a job?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Henry do after Elaine leaves?

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

3. Describe Henry's relationship with his brother Will.

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

5. What happens in the prelude?

6. Describe Henry's relationships at the beginning of the novel.

7. What is Henry's plan when he sets out on his trip?

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

9. What is Henry's relationship with the landscape?

10. Why does Joe spank Henry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Henry Lightcap seems to be educated to simple folk and uneducated to people like Elaine, who are experts. How much does Edward Abbey value education and expertise in 'Fool's Progress'? Where is it important? Where is it shunned?

Essay Topic 3

Henry Lightcap is a Hedonist of the first order--how does Abbey feel about sensual pleasures, and is there a contradiction in *reading* about pleasures of the flesh?

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This section contains 653 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample