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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. Why does Mrs. Kline put candles on the mantle?
2. What happened to Mrs. Mesinger after Richard Allen Mesinger's death?
3. Where was Richard Allen Mesington born?
4. What actually ignites the black powder in the "sweet" rifle as it hangs in Harv Kline's house?
5. What does Harv Kline say after the "sweet" rifle accidentally discharges?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Richard Allen Mesinger think about his neighbor Harv Kline's antique gun?
2. How is Harv Kline characterized in the novel?
3. 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?
4. Was the "sweet" rifle fundamentally different from other rifles of the period?
5. Describe the chain of events that leads to the rifle being above Harv Kline's fireplace.
6. The novel summarizes the life that Richard Allen Mesinger "would" have had if he had not been killed. Is this a valid narrative technique?
7. Why does the novel spend so much time characterizing Richard Allen Mesinger?
8. Describe the chain of events that leads to the rifle being accidentally discharged.
9. The novel openly mocks Tim Harrow's personal philosophy that draws from firearms and American history, the United States Constitution, and Christianity. Do you think that these sources of information are suitable for mockery?
10. Why don't the Mesinger and the Kline children play together?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Describe the process of loading a muzzle-loading rifle. Describe why John Byam loaded the rifle the way that he did.
Essay Topic 2
Of the major characters in the novel (Cornish McManus, John Byam, Tim Harrow, Harv Kline, and Richard Allen Mesinger), are any of them villains? If not, why not. If so, who is a villain and why do you consider them to be a villain?
Essay Topic 3
In the novel, the black powder rifle discharges after 217 of being loaded. Is this credible? Or is it merely a piece of melodrama to establish a political opinion within the novel?
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This section contains 765 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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