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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. How many days before he dies does George begin hallucinating?

2. What is the name of Howard's family's cat in Chapter 2?

3. What novel does Howard discover on his porch after pulling the hermit's tooth in Chapter 1?

4. What does George's mother serve for Christmas dinner on the night that George witnesses his father's seizure?

5. Where is George's workshop located?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is ironic about George's role within his family, as illustrated in Chapter 2, Part 2?

2. How would you compare the imagery of Howard's home and George's home in the novel?

3. What metaphor is illustrated through the descriptions of George's house in Chapter 1, Part 1?

4. How does the narrator describe George's attempt to make a memoir by cassette tape in Chapter 1?

5. How is Kathleen's behavior described when Howard Crosby arrives home late after having a seizure in Chapter 1, Part 2?

6. How does George become injured when he witnesses his father's seizure in Chapter 2, Part 1?

7. When is the only occurrence when George witnesses firsthand one of his father's seizures?

8. What memories of George's are described "one hundred and sixty-eight hours" before George's death in Chapter 1?

9. What does George witness as he watches the doctor talking with his mother from the truck in Chapter 2, Part 2?

10. What does the doctor say after examining George's injury in Chapter 2, Part 2?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the theme of family in Tinkers. What do you think the term “family” means to each of the following characters: Howard, George, and Reverend Crosby? What does “family” mean to the female characters in the novel? How would you describe George’s relationship with his family as he lays dying in the contemporary storyline?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the author’s style of dialogue in the novel. Why do you think that Paul Harding chooses not to use quotation marks when the characters speak to one another? How does this choice affect you as a reader? How is the choice reflective of the themes in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the theme of heartache in Tinkers. How does Howard perceive the feelings of heartache and loss that he feels each day? How does George perceive these feelings within himself? What does it say about George and Howard that they perceive pain so differently?

(see the answer keys)

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