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. Why can Sister Alma Edgar no longer teach?

2. What does Marian like to hear stories about?

3. Who does Glassic say has the baseball from the Bobby Thomson game?

4. Who does Nick remember at the end of the chapter who has been dead for years?

5. What is the name of Richard's friend?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Mike think his mother should stay in New York?

2. What do we find out about Nick's past in this section?

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

4. How does Nick know Klara Sax?

5. Why does Nick think his mother should move to Phoenix?

6. What does Sims say happened to Donnie Moore?

7. Why does Nick say his mother likes Jackie Gleason so much?

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

9. How does Marian react to Nick's fling with Donna?

10. Why did sister Edgar stop hitting kids?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the following and discuss how it affects the tone of the stories and helps to express character and theme.

1. Setting

2. Point of view

3. Structure

4. Language

Essay Topic 3

How is the Texas Highway killing significant to the story? Why do you think the author does explore the killings and the murderer further?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 751 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample