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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. Where is Charles Bon buried?

2. Why is Quentin listening to the story about Sutpen?

3. In what year does Thomas Sutpen arrive in Jefferson?

4. Where is Sutpen's architect from?

5. What are the names of Sutpen's two daughters?

Short Essay Questions

1. When did Sutpen tell General Compson about why he abandoned his first wife?

2. Characterize Thomas Sutpen as he is portrayed by Rosa Coldfield's description in Chapter 1.

3. Why does Rosa stop accepting visits from Judith and Ellen?

4. Why is it significant that it rains on Sutpen's wedding night?

5. What does Chapter 2 imply about the reason why Mr. Coldfield was the one who ordered the wagons to pick up Sutpen's home furnishings?

6. How does Rosa depict Judith's reaction to Charles Bon's murder?

7. Why was Rosa offended that Wash Jones came to the front of the house when he arrived to notify her of Charles Bon's death?

8. What is Quentin's answer to Shreve's final question of the novel?

9. What reason did Sutpen give for not joining the Klan?

10. When Clytie is trying to get Quentin to bring Rosa back downstairs when Rosa has come to Sutpen's Hundred in 1909, Clytie tells Quentin, "Whatever he done, me and Judith and him have paid it out." What does she mean that they have "paid it out?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In what ways can the novel be interpreted as Quentin's story rather than Thomas Sutpen's story? Be sure to use specific examples from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Jason Compson is one of the primary tellers of the Sutpen story. What is Jason Compson's role in this novel, in reader interpretation of the novel, and in Quentin's attitudes about the South?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how Faulkner uses characters' clothing to characterize them throughout the novel. Pick a specific character and comment on the evolution of that character's dress throughout the novel and what that evolution means about that character.

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