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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. Why did Tashjian agree to take the manuscript?

2. What are Tashjian's feelings about the manuscript?

3. What does Josh expect to study in college?

4. Where does the epigraph for part 2 come from?

5. What lesson has Josh learned from living with his stepfather?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the response to the Larry fan club?

2. How does Larry's website get noticed?

3. What does Josh Swensen give Tashjian?

4. What is Tashjian's response to Josh's story?

5. What does Josh take from Peter, his step-father?

6. What is Josh's relationship with his stepfather like?

7. What is Josh's relationship with Katherine?

8. How are Tashjian and the boy in contact?

9. How does Josh get in touch with his mother?

10. What signs of death appear around Josh, and how does he interpret them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the importance of family in 'The Gospel According to Larry'? Could Josh have written 'The Gospel According to Larry' if he had a stable, happy family? Was the website and then the book a kind of compensation for his lack of family?

Essay Topic 2

What kind of change do Josh and Beth and the kids in the Larry fan club want to make in the world? What problems do they want to solve? How effective are their methods?

Essay Topic 3

Write about your own reading of 'The Gospel According to Larry'--did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

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