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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. Since Betty Sue disappeared, what other place has Gleeson seen her?

2. What makes Sughrue realize that Randall Jackson is involved in organized crime?

3. How does Sughrue evaluate his conversation with Gleeson?

4. Where does Sughrue find the first visitor on the list of Betty Sue's friends?

5. What does Sughrue recall about his torture technique and his discharge from Vietnam?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the audience learn about Trahearne's mother?

2. What is shown by Trahearne's ex-wife hiring a private investigator to follow him?

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

4. Sughrue is uncomfortable about Catherine and Trahearne's mother living together. Why?

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

6. What does Melinda's present life say about her now?

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

8. How do Selma Hinds' actions characterize her?

9. Why is it significant that Albert Griffith searched the morgue for Betty Sue?

10. What is foreshadowed by Trahearne's eagerness to travel with Sughrue in the search for Betty Sue?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

San Francisco as a location for much of the plot development is ironic. San Francisco has two sides--the place where free thinkers live and the place where people like Betty Sue disappear. What is ironic about the two views of San Francisco?

Essay Topic 2

Sughrue and Trahearne develop a relationship that changes as the novel progresses. These two men can be further explored due to their complexity. Compare and contrast Sughrue and Trahearne.

Essay Topic 3

Edna owns the town's hotel. The story behind her acquisition is important to the story's development, especially Betty Sue's life. How is the hotel symbolic and what is the connection to Betty Sue/Melinda?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 824 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample