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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. Where does Sylder's car die while on his whiskey run?

2. What type of animal devours the wildcat?

3. Why does Sylder feel a strong sense of doom as he tries to fall asleep?

4. How could the charges against John Wesley be dropped?

5. To whose house do the boys go to talk about the skunk?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to the Rattners by the end of the story?

2. How else might the irony of Sylder and John Wesley's friendship be interpreted?

3. What are John Wesley and Warn's speculation on what had happened to the mink?

4. Describe Ownby's encounter with a welfare department agent in the jail.

5. What information does John Wesley give to Gifford and what does Sylder say about it?

6. What does the orchard keeper do on a snowy morning involving the peach pit?

7. Why does Gifford focus his question about Ownby on a storekeep named Huffaker?

8. Who is Arthur Ownby and what is he doing as this chapter begins?

9. What sense of foreboding does Sylder have as he tries to fall asleep?

10. Describe the activities of the wildcat as it tries to find dry quarters as well as something to eat.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

McCarthy uses more than one instance of irony in the story. Cite at least two other examples you can identify in the story and note why they are examples of irony. What is the major irony in the story? 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

Create a brief character study of the orchard keeper What does he look like? What are his positive personality traits? What are some of his negative characteristics? What are his hopes and fears? What motivates him at this point?

(see the answer keys)

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