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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why doesn't Richard Allen Mesington play with the next door neighbor Harv Kline's son?
(a) Harv Kline's son doesn't like guns
(b) Harv Kline's son is too young
(c) Harv Kline's son is too old
(d) Harv Kline's son drowned as an infant

2. How does Richard Allen Mesington get along with Harv Kline?
(a) They like each other as neighbors
(b) They are best friends
(c) They like to hunt together
(d) They fight about nearly everything

3. Who is Richard Allen Mesington's first girlfriend?
(a) Peggy
(b) Sissy
(c) Tilson
(d) Sarah

4. How does Richard Allen Mesinger die?
(a) He is hanged by the British as a traitor
(b) He dies of stomach cancer
(c) He is shot in the head
(d) Dysentery kills him

5. According to the novel, how many baseball games did Richard Allen Mesinger watch in an average year?
(a) Over 100
(b) He didn't watch baseball
(c) Two or three a week, all season long
(d) 16

Short Answer Questions

1. After whom was Richard Allen Mesington named?

2. According to the novel, how many movies did Richard Allen Mesinger watch in an average year?

3. According to the novel, how long was Richard Allen Mesinger "supposed" to have lived?

4. How long does Sissy live?

5. What is Richard Allen Mesinger doing at the moment he is killed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What message does the novel convey?

2. How is Harv Kline characterized in the novel?

3. What experiences does Mesinger have with firearms in his life?

4. How many people own the "sweet" rifle?

5. Who is the most sympathetic character in the novel, and why?

6. Imagine that you came into possession of the "sweet" rifle instead of Tilson. What would you do with the rifle if you did not know its history? What would you do with the rifle if you did know its history?

7. Why don't the Mesinger and the Kline children play together?

8. The novel summarizes the life that Richard Allen Mesinger "would" have had if he had not been killed. Is this a valid narrative technique?

9. Throughout the 217 year history of the "sweet" rifle, what is it functionally used for?

10. Tim Harrow is characterized as a fringe "crazy" person; the narrative openly mocks him. What actions does he perform in the novel that would make you shun him in the real world?

(see the answer keys)

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