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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 raiment does Albert don?

2. Who is Albert?

3. Where does Leona offer to take Chris?

4. What confounds Chris about the city he visits?

5. What happens if there is intense grieving surrounding a person's death?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Chris lie down at his home and does this make sense to you?

2. What does Leon show Chris while they are waiting to be summoned back to the Office of Records?

3. What does Perry do that keeps Chris from actually communicating any further and why do you think Perry does this?

4. How is Chris finally able to move away from the Earth plane?

5. Where does Leona take Chris and why can't he seem to enjoy it?

6. Describe Chris' experience in the hospital when his soul first leaves his body.

7. What is the frame in which Chris' story is written?

8. Who does Chris encounter in the hospital halls and what do you think the fog represents?

9. What recollection of Chris' may foreshadow the future for Ann?

10. What does the man who seems to have substance tell Chris?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 5, Ann agrees to a séance with Perry. It starts out find, but then ends badly. Discuss one of the following:

1. Describe and then analyze the entire séance scene.

2. Discuss the paranormal, particularly mediumship and give your response to the subject.

3. How do you think things would have changed for Ann if she had seen Chris and believed he still existed somewhere? Discuss thoroughly with examples from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Despite Chris' intense love for his wife, Ann, he is unable to make a connection with her while she is still in the physical plane and barely manages to get her to acknowledge his existence in the spirit world. Discuss the following:

1. There's a cliché that suggests that "love conquers all." What does love fail to conquer in the story and what does love conquer in the story?

2. Ann's refusal to feel Chris's connection seems to be motivated by her head, rather than heart. Do you think this is true? Why? Give examples.

3. In what other ways do you see the existence of love in the story?

Essay Topic 3

In the Introduction, a clairvoyant has gone to the home of the protagonist's brother, Robert, to deliver a manuscript she claims Robert's deceased brother, Chris, dictated to her from the spirit realm. Discuss the following:

Why do you think Matheson chooses to frame his novel with the story about the clairvoyant and the manuscript?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of framing the story this way?

Do you think the frame device is the most effective way to tell Chris's story? Why or why not?

What is another way Matheson could have structured the story? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of that way?

(see the answer keys)

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