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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. As Saghure tries to leave Peggy's side, what is Trahearne trying to do?
(a) Interrogate other guests.
(b) Call Melinda on a pay phone.
(c) Steal money from the desk.
(d) Have sex with another guest.

2. After Sughrue finds Trahearne, what starts the fight in the bar concerning a regular patron and Sughrue?
(a) Sughrue's attempts at casual conversation.
(b) Drunk men fighting over the pool table.
(c) Sughrue's inability to pay.
(d) A woman sitting by the regular patron.

3. Where does Sughrue track Trahearne to before they ever meet?
(a) Las Vegas, gambling.
(b) Washington, lobbying.
(c) A bar in Sonoma, California.
(d) A shopping mall.

4. What does Rosie think about Betty Sue at the beginning of the novel?
(a) That Betty Sue is alive.
(b) That Betty Sue is happily married somewhere.
(c) That Betty Sue works for the government.
(d) That Betty Sue is a prostitute.

5. Trahearne's ex-wife tells Sughrue to look where for him?
(a) Church.
(b) The library, writing and researching.
(c) On the streets.
(d) His regular hangouts, bars.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Sughrue end up talking to Melinda after dinner?

2. According to Professor Richter, what did Randall Jackson once do in San Francisco?

3. What information does Selma Hinds have concerning Betty Sue?

4. In regards to the police, what do Sophie and Rosie develop after the bar fight?

5. Where does Saghure track Peggy Bain to?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has Sughrue's self-described "mean streak" affected his life thus far?

2. How do Selma Hinds' actions characterize her?

3. What is upsetting Sughrue about Betty Sue as the search continues? Why?

4. How would Sughrue be affected by his experiences in Vietnam and the discovery of the butchered 14-year old boy?

5. What events does the use of alcohol foreshadow as the book opens?

6. What prompts Sughrue to say he will "rise and do what [he] knew he had to do, to what [he] owed the women"?

7. How does Sughrue's remark about his job and "the chase being over" indirectly characterize him?

8. How does Sughrue treat Charles Gleeson? Why?

9. Sughrue and the nurse connect quickly. What side of his personality does this event reveal?

10. What do Sughrue and Trahearne's interactions with the nurse teach the readers about these two men?

(see the answer keys)

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