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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. How old was the little girl in Chapter 1?

2. How does the main character give himself away while watching the girl interact with her nurse?

3. What had Dexter expected before dinner at Judy's house?

4. What subject do Dexter and Judy not discuss during dinner?

5. Dexter owned the largest string of his type of business in his section of the country by the time he was what age?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Dexter do after Devlin leaves his office?

2. Why does Devlin say Judy will not get a divorce?

3. How does Dexter feel about Judy's parents not being able to join then for dinner in Part 3?

4. What does Dexter want to do when learning of Judy's situation?

5. What is Dexter's financial state while he's working as a caddy?

6. Why did Dexter not care about hurting Irene or Irene's parents?

7. Why does Dexter not care about what the people of the town think of his actions in Part 5?

8. How does Devlin know Judy (what is their relationship)?

9. How does seeing Judy at the dance in Part 4 make Dexter feel?

10. Where do Dexter and Judy go together when they leave the dance in Part 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of Dexter's decisions in life revolve around Judy.

1. Describe the irony in Dexter and Judy's relationship.

2. Compare and contrast Dexter's feelings toward Judy from the beginning to the end of the story.

3. When does Dexter finally lose hope that he will ever be with Judy? Cite the specific event from the story.

Essay Topic 2

At several points in this story, the plot seems to be pushed by coincidences.

1. Dexter and Judy often end up at the same dances, why did they meet in the obscure way they did on the open lake at night--instead of a more reasonable location like a dance?

2. Dexter learns of Judy's fading beauty from a man from Detroit. What is taken from the story if Dexter were to learn his information from someone in Black Bear?

3. Had these two events taken place differently, could the story have reached the same conclusion? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Similes are an important part of literature. They compare two otherwise dissimilar objects in order to add description to a thing or situation. What is meant by the following similes from Winter Dreams?

1. "When he crossed the hills the wind blew cold as misery."

2. "The long Minnesota winter shut down like the white lid of a box."

3. "His heart turned over like the fly-wheel of the boat."

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