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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 Sylder tell John Wesley was in Sylder's car?

2. Where is Kenneth when he enters a bar?

3. What does the orchard keeper get out of a chest?

4. With what does the man hit Sylder?

5. What movement is in effect in America at this point in time?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the orchard keeper do when he returns to his house?

2. What is the name of the town where Marion Sylder is from and in what year was he born?

3. Who are Gifford and Legwater and what do they find at the scene of the car crash?

4. Why is the old man afraid of cats and what extreme measures has he taken to keep them at bay?

5. How does the author give the first clue that Sylder is a bootlegger?

6. What does Kenneth say he is looking for and why does this confuse the storekeep?

7. How does the author further the theme of ignorance and obscurity?

8. What is Kenneth Rattner doing as the novel begins?

9. What happens to Sylder after the flat tire is fixed?

10. What spooks the orchard keeper when he visits the peach pit where the corpse is buried?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the overall setting for the novel. Why does McCarthy use the setting he does? What is the time period of the story? How important is the time period to the attitudes and issues of the characters?

Essay Topic 2

Describe Gifford. What is his role in the story? What was the author trying to accomplish by creating Gifford's character in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Project into the future ten years and write a brief synopsis for the lives of John Wesley, Ownby and Sylder. Be sure to include emotional states as well as physical characteristics, geographic locations, work, hobbies, and socialization.

(see the answer keys)

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