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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 does Horace begin to have second thoughts about having used in his spell at the end of the section titled White Sorcery?

2. In what year does Kenan set the first part of the section titled White Sorcery?

3. What is one book Horace uses to inform his transformation?

4. Why is Zeke physically uncomfortable in the car in the beginning of the section titled December 8, 1985, 9:30 a.m.?

5. Who were the two men Zeke remembers fighting over Amy Williams in his youth?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the illness that Asa Cross is dying from?

2. Why does Reverend Greene's mentor, Philip Schnider, tell him he will make a great theologian?

3. What kind of animal does Horace decide to turn himself into and why?

4. Why is Reverend Greene extremely alarmed when he meets Horace in the woods early in the morning on April, 30, 1984?

5. How does Horace first become aware of what he feels is another presence after he performs his spell?

6. In the section titled April 30, 1984, 1:15 a.m., what does the demon instruct Horace to kill?

7. What format does Reverend Greene's conversation with Horace beginning on page 40 take?

8. How does Zeke remember his life with his wife, Retha (short for Aretha)?

9. What particular part of Horace's spell to transform himself into an animal does he struggle with morally?

10. What does the demon ask Horace to do in the church in the section titled April 30, 1985, 1:15 a.m., and why is this significant?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Ruth and Ezekiel have such a contentious and uncomfortable relationship? What past events and hard feelings are at the heart of their relationship?

Essay Topic 2

Kenan chooses to end the book with a brief section titled Requiem for Tobacco. What message do you think Kenan was trying to leave the reader with by closing the novel this way, right after the description of Horace's suicide? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text.

Essay Topic 3

Horace's demons take on different physical forms. Write an essay analyzing the symbolism of some of the forms Horace's demons assume.

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