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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. After they leave the men on the road, why does the son ask the father if he is dying?

2. Besides asking his father to start a fire while under the bridge, what else does the son ask the father?

3. As the father leads the son to the hidden cellar, what does the father tell his son that good guys do not give in to?

4. What does the son think is inside the nice house?

5. After leaving the gas station, the father and son continue along the road -- how many men stop them?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how the author generates credibility to the father's paranoia about the world.

2. In Chapter 30, describe how the son acts like a child for the first time.

3. Explain what happens in Chapter 35 that finally makes the father realize that the son is growing up.

4. Analyze the son's reaction when, in Chapters 36-40, he realizes that the father is becoming more reliant on his opinion.

5. Describe what things the father and son find while at the beach in Chapter 40.

6. Describe what the father and son find in Chapter 35 that symbolizes the end of the son's innocence.

7. Describe three things that the father finds in Chapters 21-25 that he finds useful.

8. Describe how the son shows his increasing influence on the father in Chapter 31.

9. Explain why the father gives the son a gun after they see the people walking towards the house.

10. Describe how the father makes lamps before he and the son enter the hidden cellar.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The father insists that there are good and bad guys in the world, leading the reader to believe a "bad" group of people are responsible for the destruction. How are good people set apart from bad people in the story? What are the major characteristics that good people have that bad people don't? How does the father distinguish between the good and bad people?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the theme of death in The Road. How are the father and son dealing with the thought of death? How does the son's view of death compare to the father's? Is the son naive about death?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the theme of fear, particularly the father's fear of the boy growing up. Cite examples from the text that demonstrate the father's fears. Why is the father so fearful of the son growing up?

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