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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. Where does George live in 1953?

2. What year is it when Howard dies in Chapter 4?

3. What is the principle motif that reappears throughout Tinkers?

4. At how many different banks has George kept safety deposit boxes, according to the narrator in Chapter 4?

5. What does the narrator describe opening in 1953 in Chapter 4?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is symbolic about the descriptions of Reverend Crosby fading from Howard's vision in Chapter 3, Part 1?

2. What is the last thing that George remembers before he dies in Chapter 4?

3. When is the last time George awakens before he dies? What does he relate after awakening?

4. What alias does Howard Crosby take on after he leaves his family? Where does he go?

5. Whom does George ask for when he awakens in Chapter 4, Part 1? Who is sitting with George?

6. How does Howard's medical condition change after he moves away and begins living under an alias?

7. How are George's finances described in Chapter 4, Part 1? Why does George concern himself with his finances?

8. What regret does Howard display regarding his father in the beginning of Chapter 3?

9. How would you compare the "disappearances" of Reverend Crosby and Howard Crosby in the novel?

10. How does the theme of competition apply to the characters and relationship of George and Howard Crosby in Tinkers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Analyze and discuss the character of Gilbert in the novel. Other than Howard, who does Gilbert associate with? Where does Gilbert live? What similarities do Gilbert and Howard Crosby share? How are these characters different? What do you think that Gilbert’s character represents symbolically in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the character of Cullen in the novel. What is Cullen’s business relationship to Howard Crosby? How would you describe Cullen’s business practices? Do you think that Howard gives a fair assessment of Cullen? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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