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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. How long does Sissy live?
(a) At least fifteen years
(b) Four years
(c) She's killed by a car when she's just a puppy
(d) About six years after Richard Allen Mesington is born

2. According to the novel, how fast does a black powder charge burn?
(a) About 1100 feet per second at sea level
(b) In about 1.45 seconds
(c) 25,000 feet per second
(d) 186,000 miles per second

3. According to the novel, how fast is the rifle ball traveling when it hits Richard Allen Mesinger?
(a) 1,000 feet per second
(b) About 30 long paces
(c) Mach 2
(d) About 20 miles per hour

4. At the novel's conclusion, who is the owner of the "sweet" rifle?
(a) Tilson
(b) Nobody--Harv Kline destroys it
(c) Harv Kline
(d) John Byam

5. Why does Mrs. Kline put candles on the mantle?
(a) She's trying to burn down the house
(b) To obscure Mr. Kline's velvet Elvis painting
(c) To heat up the "sweet" rifle
(d) She's celebrating Halloween

Short Answer Questions

1. What were prohibited in the powder magazine of Revolutionary War ships?

2. From age seven to nine years old, Richard Allen Mesington believes he will pursue which profession?

3. From age nine to ten, Richard Allen Mesington believes he will pursue which profession?

4. How many close friends does Richard Allen Mesington have during the first few years of his life?

5. When Richard Allen Mesington is fourteen years old he considers pursuing all of the following careers except?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does the rifle fire after 217 years?

4. Describe Richard Allen Mesinger's early teenage life.

5. Tim Harrow owns the "sweet" rifle for a few days. He buys it, wraps it up in cloth, and trades it away a few days later. As a character, Harrow has no narrative function beyond transporting the rifle from point A to point B, just like Sarah, an editor, an antique dealer, and a gun collector. Yet the novel spends a significant portion of its space developing Harrow as a character. Why?

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

7. What happens to the adults that survive the accidental death of Richard Allen Mesinger?

8. Do you think that Harv Kline feels he got a fair exchange with Tim Harrow?

9. Sarah steals the rifle from John Byam as he dies; does Tilson steal the rifle from Harv Kline?

10. Describe the several career paths that Mesinger contemplates during his early life.

(see the answer keys)

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