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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 does Bryson tell the waitress he has just gotten out of prison for?

2. When Bryson enters Mississippi, he suddenly begins musing on the ________ of the region.

3. According to Bryson's generalization, who will people from Des Moines marry?

4. What does Bryson believe his grandparents would do while awaiting the family's arrival?

5. What does Bryson say he set out to Missouri with?

Short Essay Questions

1. Does Bryson have a conflicted relationship with North Carolina? What constitutes this relationship?

2. How does Bryson generalize towns from his youth?

3. What effect does Bryson's visit to Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum have on him?

4. In Bryson's opinion, why do Farmers lose their limbs easily?

5. What is the greatest barrier Bryson faces in southern towns?

6. Why is the south like a foreign country to Bryson?

7. Why does Bryson draw ties to movies? How does this aid the narrative?

8. What is disappointing about the Mississippi to Bryson?

9. Do people ever get out of Des Moines, according to Bryson? Why or why not?

10. What are Bryson's feelings about Mississippi? Why does he feel this way?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss who Bryson's audience is: who is he writing for? What are subtleties in his writing that imply an aim at a certain audience? Who is he trying to appeal to and why?

Essay Topic 2

What initiated Bryson's urge to travel was his desire to "be somewhere." However, what inspired this trip was tied to the death of his father and his desire to revisit youth. Discuss Bryson's complex relationship with home.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the final portrait of "America" Bryson has painted by the conclusion of his journey.

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