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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. What did Sughure do after Vietnam that many other soldiers did as well?

2. Why did Sughrue quit the line of work he started in San Francisco?

3. After driving for nineteen hours, where does Sughrue arrive?

4. What does the friendly nurse reveal about Trahearne?

5. What does Trahearne reveal to Sughrue about rainstorms and his childhood?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sughrue's interactions with Jackson show about his investigative skills?

2. Why would Sughrue just accept the beatings from Jackson's men?

3. How does Trahearne's interpretation of Catherine align with what the audience knows about her?

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

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

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

7. How do Trahearne's novels parallel his personality and life?

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

9. Sughrue and Rosie concoct a story for the police. How does this story indirectly characterize them?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sughrue describes Melinda's sculptures many times and realizes there is a connection between Melinda and her art. How do these sculptures parallel Melinda?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

What does the novel's title mean? Which characters does it reference? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 857 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample