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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 reason does Sylder give for the man being under the truck?

2. What does the orchard keeper do with a knife?

3. Which of the following does John Wesley hear as he is searching for his traps?

4. On what type of road is Sylder driving?

5. What surprises Sylder when he gets to his car after leaving a bar?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Green Fly Inn.

2. What is life like now for Kenneth Rattner's widow and son, John Wesley, since Rattner is dead?

3. What is the whiskey running process in place in the area and what is Sylder's role in it?

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

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

6. What does the man in Sylder's car want and what does Sylder end up doing?

7. What insight is revealed about Sylder's background?

8. What other possible explanation could there be for Sylder's driving fast to elude the police?

9. How does John Wesley acquire his animal traps?

10. How does McCarthy set up the book's major irony in this chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

McCarthy waits until almost the end of the novel to reveal the name of the orchard keeper. Why does he wait until this point? What does it mean when the reader finally knows the true identity of the orchard keeper? What is happening in the orchard keeper's life that erases any more secrecy about the old man? Explain.

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

THE ORCHARD KEEPER is written in the Southern Gothic style. What does that classification entail? Why does this novel fit into this category? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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