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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. How does Blue enter Black's apartment while he is out?
(a) He kicks down the door.
(b) He picks the door lock.
(c) He climbs through a window.
(d) He asks the landlord to let him in.

2. What identity does Blue adopt for himself during his second conversation with Black?
(a) A farmer from Holcomb, Kansas.
(b) A life insurance salesman from Kenosha, Wisconsin.
(c) An ice fisherman from Alberta, Canada.
(d) A lumberjack from White Springs, Colorado.

3. For which of Fanshawe's friends does he write love letters to his girlfriend Sue-Anne?
(a) Paul Schiff.
(b) Jeffrey Brown.
(c) Roy Cutbirth.
(d) Otis Smart.

4. What is the name of the science of reading bumps on the skull that Whitman believed in?
(a) Astrology.
(b) Phrenology.
(c) Ontology.
(d) Theology.

5. In the narrator's recollection about second grade, to whom does Fanshawe give the present intended for the birthday boy?
(a) His girlfriend.
(b) Dennis Walden.
(c) His mother.
(d) The narrator.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Black tell Blue that he thinks the man he is observing is writing?

2. What year is it when Blue begins work on the case?

3. The images of which two historical figures are inspirational to Blue when he visits the churchyard?

4. Where does Blue go to watch Jackie Robinson play baseball?

5. What does Fanshawe's mother offer the narrator to help him with his project?

Short Essay Questions

1. What initiates the argument between Sophie and the narrator at the end of Chapter 7? What is the status of their relationship when the narrator leaves for Paris?

2. What is unusual about the letter that the narrator supposedly receives from Fanshawe? How does this quirk help to convince the narrator of the letter's veracity?

3. About what aspect of Fanshawe's writing do Sophie and Fanshawe disagree? What is the compromise that Fanshawe offers her a few months before his disappearance?

4. What does Jane Fanshawe do after lunch? What does the narrator think motivates this act?

5. During their second conversation, what is Black's response when Blue asks him if the man he watches knows he is being watched? How does Black justify his answer?

6. What is Jane Fanshawe's critique of her son? How does she describe the relationship between Fanshawe and his parents?

7. Why does the narrator struggle with showing Fanshawe's letter to Sophie? What does he do instead?

8. What does the manuscript contain that Blue takes from Black's apartment after beating him up? How does the story end?

9. Who told Blue stories about the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge? What was this person's profession and what became of him?

10. What aspects of Fanshawe's background could be considered possible liabilities on the ship? How does his background affect the way in which he is actually treated by his fellow shipmates?

(see the answer keys)

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