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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. Which of the following costumes does the narrator note would unsettle the party at Octavia’s mansion?

2. Which of the following is the number of bedrooms the narrator, Penny, and Nigel have in their suite at Shanksted?

3. Which of the following is the name of the bloodhound at Shanksted?

4. On which of the following is Octavia’s mansion?

5. Which of the following does the narrator note his company serves?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reason does the narrator give for misliking going to court, despite his skill therein?

2. What explanation is given for the hotbox at Shanksted?

3. What incident leads to the acknowledgement that Nigel is the best cook among himself, Penny, and the narrator?

4. What does the narrator recall of Tyrod’s life with his son?

5. What accoutrements does the narrator note accompany his Roman centurion costume?

6. To what does the narrator ascribe Supercargo’s trouble with authorities?

7. What prompts Nigel’s retreat into the art-supply closet at his school?

8. What signs of shabbiness does the narrator note about the Tiko?

9. What does the narrator note the Racing Form tracks?

10. What after-school activities is Nigel involved in at the beginning of the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explicate the significance of Penny’s name.

Essay Topic 2

Consider the following comment: “Memories could be questioned, distorted, forgotten. But a transcript could not. The physical act of remembering is a bulwark against insanity” (128). Is the comment correct? What in the novel and experience suggest as much, and how do they do so?

Essay Topic 3

What purpose is served by the scene in which the narrator, Penny, and Nigel tour Shanksted Plantation, just before Nigel goes missing (50-54)? What in the text and experience indicates that purpose? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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