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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. What does the father find in the nice house that he thinks could be poison?

2. Where do the father and son travel to after leaving the gas station?

3. While on the road, the father and son meet an old man -- what does the son beg his father to give the old man?

4. At the beginning of Chapter 36, how many days has it been since the father and son have eaten?

5. What does the father say when he and his son enter the hidden cellar?

Short Essay Questions

1. Recall an example from Chapter 31 that demonstrates how the father is dealing with the son growing up.

2. Describe one example from Chapters 36-40 that demonstrates how the father is becoming more reliant on the son's opinion.

3. Describe what the father and son find in Chapter 21 after the father breaks open a locked pantry door.

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

5. Explain why the son returns to the fearful version of himself in Chapter 36, and use an example from the text.

6. Give an example from Chapters 26-30 of where the author uses foreshadowing.

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

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

9. In Chapter 26, describe the son's reaction when the father loses their lighter and cannot make a fire.

10. Describe three things that the father and son find of use in Chapters 36-40.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

From the very beginning of The Road, the author does not give the father and son names, he gives them the generic labels of "the man or father" and "the boy or son."

Part 1) Why did the author choose not to give his characters names?

Part 2) How do the characters' basic names of "the man" and "the boy" affect the way the reader relates to them?

Part 3) How would the reader view the text if the characters had been given names?

Essay Topic 2

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 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?

(see the answer keys)

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