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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 kind of car does Shaney drive?

2. What kind of truck did Lewis and his friends use for the Thanksgiving Classic?

3. Why do police visit Lewis in Part II?

4. What does Lewis make on the floor of his living room?

5. What game does Lewis play with his new coworker at the post office?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lewis see when he and Shaney play basketball in Part I?

2. Why does Lewis think the Elk Spirit has started haunting him in Part II?

3. What tragedy has just occurred in Ricky's life that contributes to his choice to leave the reservation?

4. Why does Lewis make a masking-tape elk shape on his living room floor?

5. Why does Lewis call Cass in Part I?

6. Why does Lewis invite Shaney over to his house in the end of Part II?

7. Why does Lewis hesitate to ever tell Peta about the Thanksgiving Classic?

8. Why does Lewis stop going to work in Part II?

9. What makes all the noise at Lewis's new rental house?

10. In Part I, how does Peta save Lewis from potentially serious injury?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At many different points throughout the novel, Jones employs graphic language to describe scenes of violence and murder. Write an essay explaining the effect Jones' use of language has on the reader's experience of the novel.

Essay Topic 2

How does Jones use Lewis's spiraling descent into paranoia and increasing madness to set the tone and build suspense? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

While Jones explores the bond between the Elk spirit and her calf, he omits any exploration or mention of the mother-child relationships of his four main characters, Ricky, Cass, Gabe, and Lewis. Write an essay analyzing Jones's treatment of the theme of mother-child relationships.

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