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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. Which of the following does Hugo dislike?

2. On whose field does Gary roll his truck after his wedding to Kismet?

3. Which of the following does Kismet drink before falling into the Red River?

4. What kind of phone does Gary have?

5. To whom does Crystal suggest oxygen be administered?

Short Essay Questions

1. When does Eric believe himself capable of deception?

2. Why does Gary fret about the size of his genitals?

3. What had the local church’s renovation funds hoped to purchase?

4. Ultimately, why does Kismet proceed to marry Gary?

5. How does Stockton regard boredom?

6. What fate does Kismet imagine for Gary immediately after wedding him?

7. Why does Crystal wear the cross the local priest gave her?

8. What fate does Kismet imagine for Gary on the steps of the church outside their wedding?

9. Why had Crystal refused to marry Martin?

10. What is Crystal’s typical night-haul lunch?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Within the novel, there are gestures towards things that might be called supernatural. Within the context of the novel, are they real or hallucinatory? What in the novel demonstrates as much, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

To what extent does the novel stake out a political position? What position is it? What in the novel shows that position, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

To what other writer’s work in your experience does Erdrich’s seem most similar? What makes the writers similar? What differentiates them? Overall, which do you regard as doing better at the craft of writing, and why?

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