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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 is Spenser talking to at the beginning of Chapter 10?

2. Who arrives at Spenser's office at the beginning of Chapter 14?

3. Why is Cosgrove happy to help out Spenser?

4. What does the woman at the shopping mall say she is angry about?

5. What does the man wear throughout the film?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Meade deal with his wife's drinking problem?

2. Why do the Alexanders decide to hire Spenser?

3. How does Spenser react to Alexander's telling him about the videotape?

4. What problems does Ronni prove she has in this section?

5. What do Spenser and Susan do together in this section?

6. How is Alexander being blackmailed?

7. How does Meade deal with the angry women in Chapter 3?

8. What move does Spenser make when Morris leaves his office?

9. What does Spenser pick up from watching the videotape?

10. What does Meade talk about at the University of Lowell?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the values of the 1980s.

1. In what ways are the characters a product of their time?

2. How does the book express the changes America was going through at the time?

3. Does modern society share any values with 1980s America?

Essay Topic 2

Why does Meade make such a successful politician? What does the character of Meade express about American politics in the 1980s?

Essay Topic 3

Look at the structure of the book.

1. How does the author use character and dialogue to drive the narrative?

2. Discuss elements of the narrative structure - exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the book's themes?

(see the answer keys)

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