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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 game is Matt interested in?

2. Where does Richard work?

3. Which of the following characters collects baseball memorabilia?

4. Where does Marian meet Brian?

5. What is the name of the woman the man driving is going to see?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Hoover appreciate Truman's timing in the announcement of the Soviet bomb?

2. Why does Nick's wife like Nick's mother?

3. How do Matt and Nick's views on their father differ?

4. What does this section say about the Texas Highway Killer?

5. What does Sims say happened to Donnie Moore?

6. Who does Nick say Brian believes he is?

7. Who was the Texas Highway Killer?

8. How does Jackie Gleason entertain members of the crowd?

9. Why is Nick upset with Marian before he leaves for work?

10. How did Nick's son change after the LA riots?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is Klara's character at the beginning of the novel? How does her character change through the novel? How does the author express this change? What events have the biggest impact on Klara's life and why?

Essay Topic 2

What significance do the following events have on the story and the lives of the characters?

1. The 1951 bomb testing.

2. The 1951 world series game.

Essay Topic 3

What is Manx's role in the novel? What meaning does his character give the novel? How would the novel change if Manx was not a character in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 704 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample