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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. In the italicized section of Chapter 8, what does the girl bring to her neighbor's apartment?

2. After returning to New Orleans, why does Kline say that Bobby would make a bad fugitive?

3. In the italicized section of Chapter 6, what does the girl say that the Kid does to her soul?

4. In the non-italicized section of Chapter 7, what happens when Bobby tries to withdraw money from his bank?

5. In the non-italicized section of Chapter 6, what book does Bobby read while he is on his dive job?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Bobby's pet while Bobby is away on the jack-up rig? How does it happen?

2. What does the IRS agent at the post office say is the reason for the IRS becoming involved in Bobby's life?

3. After Bobby returns from Tucson and meets up with Kline, why does Bobby say that he cannot get on with his life?

4. As a child what does Bobby find in the woods?

5. Why does Bobby go back Wartburg, Tennessee after his conversation with Asher?

6. In Chapter 5, when Bobby meets Sheddan for lunch, at the beginning of their conversation how does Sheddan describe Bobby as an archetypal figure?

7. After Bobby's meeting with the IRS agent, he meets up with Kline. What does Kline say about the shape of his own life and how is that a contrast to Bobby's life?

8. In the italicized section of Chapter 5, what does the Kid tell the girl about math and reality before she goes to bed?

9. What is in the trunk that the Kid brings into the girl's room?

10. What does Kline think is happening to Bobby in regard to Bobby doing dumb things?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Bobby has two more experiences of solitude. How are these experiences different that his experience on the jack-up rig? How do the language and cadence give the reader a feeling that the other two experiences of solitude have a different quality than the experience Bobby has aboard the jack-up rig?

Essay Topic 2

Bobby thinks that he knows no other state of being than loneliness. Where does his loneliness come from? What happens to him on the jack-up rig when he is truly alone? Is there a distinction between the feeling of loneliness amongst people and the experience of truly being alone? What does Bobby say finally soothes his experience of solitude on the jack-up rig?

Essay Topic 3

There are guys in suits who question Bobby, and his bank account is frozen by the IRS. How do these elements serve the story? How do they serve the author's intentions for the story? How do they serve to suggest a life that is out of Bobby's control? How do they serve to show ideas of struggle and surrender? How do these ideas relate to the reader's world?

(see the answer keys)

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