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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What beginning statement(s) does Steve finally write in his journal in Part One, Chapter 9?
(a) "It feels dark a lot of the time; I thought it would clear up, and it's eased a little, but it's still dark" (56).
(b) "Our son was so beautiful. He was perfect. A round little baby boy" (56).
(c) "I always try to stay level-headed in copy waters: that's what I'm good at, it's one of the things people know me by" (56).
(d) "I wonder if I can really tell you what it was like to lose Linda, how heavy the blow was to me" (55-56).

2. What metaphor does the narrator make about snakes to people on Page 62?
(a) People move on without thinking of the events they have left behind in the same way a snake leaves its shed skin; it is not their fault for what is left behind.
(b) Snakes have to be cunning and smart; people have to approach life in the same way to survive.
(c) People are similar to snakes, because try to shed their skin or past experiences, yet those experiences are always with them.
(d) People and snakes both have to be free agents, shed their skin, and become new again.

3. In one of the scenes from "Targets," where is the woman in the chair placed?
(a) The woman is locked in a room alone.
(b) The woman is put in chains and in a cage.
(c) The woman is standing with her hands tied.
(d) The woman is sitting in a chair.

4. In Part One, Chapter 8, where does Lisa Sample say she spent a short while before moving to Collins?
(a) Ames, Iowa.
(b) Nevada, Iowa.
(c) Madison, Wisconsin.
(d) Las Vegas, Nevada.

5. On one of the first mornings that Sarah Jane stays at Lisa's in Part One, Chapter 12, she sees a picture on the wall that has been personalized with a note: What does the note say?
(a) The picture had bold black writing at the type that stated, "Are you going back to get your things?" (81).
(b) At the bottom of the picture it read, "You already know a little about the business" (81).
(c) The note reads, "You're always welcome back at Henry's! Love Irene" (81).
(d) The scribbled writing states, "The view in the morning is really something" (81).

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Jeremy feel about his father's request about future jobs?

2. In the beginning Quote, what does the author compare "secret agents" to?

3. What is so strange about Ezra's, Jeremy's co-worker at Video Hut, car accident?

4. Who does Jeremy's father, Steve, have dinner with at Spaghetti Works in Des Moines?

5. In Part One, Chapter 11, what is the name of the movie that Jeremy and Steve thinks portrays family farms in an inaccurate way?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the end of Part One, Chapter 2, Jeremy describes the tone of winter. What specifically does he say about it? How is his description metaphorical?

2. What motives does Jeremy have to speak with Sarah Jane about possibly taking another job?

3. How does Steve approach and question Jeremy about his new girlfriend, Shauna?

4. What are Jeremy's excuses for not contacting the police after admitting the videos have similarities and are violent?

5. In Part One, Chapter 11, what is unusual and scary to Steve about the added scene in "Blue Chips?"

6. In Steve's final paragraph in his journal, how is it both tender and full of fear?

7. In Part One, Chapter 6, what version of events does the narrator say happened, even though the novel says that Sarah Jane tells Jeremy a different story?

8. What does Jeremy do after his father goes to sleep at the end of Part One, Chapter 4? Why does he do it?

9. How does Lisa Sample answer Sarah Jane's questions about the farmhouse and the woman in the snapshot? What does Sarah Jane think after she leaves the farmhouse?

10. How does Steve's date go with Shauna Kinzer? How does Jeremy feel about this new relationship?

(see the answer keys)

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