View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the person Penn interviews in Colorado, how many witnesses were left out of the official case file?

2. What is the name of Penn's bodyguard?

3. As Penn ponders what he has learned to this point, what does Penn begin to believe the murder was about?

4. Why had the person Penn interviews in Colorado been released from his previous job?

5. What do Livy and Penn find when they return from their drive?

Short Essay Questions

1. As Penn peeks in the window of the Marston family home, what does Penn see Leo preparing to do?

2. When Penn goes to the apartment of the person who interrupts him at Biscuits and Blues, what does the person who interrupts him tell Penn?

3. What advice does Penn's Colorado interviewee give to Penn regarding the Payton case?

4. Describe one retaliatory event that occurs after Penn's accusations are published in the paper.

5. Why does Penn ask Caitlin to accompany him on his upcoming trip?

6. Why does Caitlin change her mind about publishing Penn's accusations in her paper?

7. What discrepancy catches Penn's eye about the Fairlane that is sitting in Althea's garden?

8. Why did Caitlin originally not want to publish Penn's accusations about Marston in her paper?

9. Where does the judge who orders the boxes removed from the Marston family home for safekeeping have the boxes taken to?

10. How does the person who interrupts Penn at Biscuit and Blues learn that her birth certificate does not list a father's name?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, Penn is involved with two very different women. Compare and contrast the relationship Penn has with Caitlin and the relationship Penn has with Olivia. Then, compare and contrast these two women. How do these relationships influence not only Penn, but also the other people that are in his life?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast how the character of Penn Cage changes as the story progresses. Be sure to include your assessment of Penn's character when he is first introduced in the story, when he moves back to Natchez, when Althea asks for his help finding Del's murderer, when he meets with Stone for the second time, and when he returns to Disney World at the end of the story. Use examples from the story to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Ilse uses this story to examine the role that truth plays in our daily lives. Examine the author's beliefs through his storytelling. Why would the author choose this story to overlay his demonstration of the consequences realized when the truth is distorted or hidden? What did you learn from the author's discussion on truth? What other avenues, if any, could the author have used to express his beliefs? Would those avenues have been as effective as the story? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 754 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample