View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Pluck show the narrator?

2. Why does the narrator form such a deep attachment to Pluck's bike?

3. Where does Pluck find a note from Fox?

4. Who sent up another balloon to find the man?

5. What is different about Meers?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does McCruiskeen plan to defeat the one-legged men?

2. How did MacCruiskeen drive two men mad?

3. Summarize the novel.

4. How does the narrator get the builder to help him?

5. How does the Codex relate to the situation the narrator finds himself in?

6. How does Divney react to seeing the narrator?

7. What does de Selby believe about the shape of the world?

8. Why does the narrator think the police cannot hang him?

9. Where does Pluck take the narrator in this chapter?

10. Why do the policeman consent to show the narrator what their figures mean?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the construction of O'Brien's argument.

1. How does he introduce his ideas?

2. How does he construct his ideas to come to logical conclusion?

3. What weaknesses and strengths can you identify in O'Brien's argument?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the author's writing style. How would you describe the author's prose style? What kind of vocabulary does he use? What meaning does the author's style give to the story?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of O'Brien's previous books and contrast it with the Third Policeman in terms of the following:

1. Style.

2. Structure.

3. Themes.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 703 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample