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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 Nan say is the cause of her life "made up of disappointments" (32)?

2. Who is Camille?

3. Which character is identified as being in an "intermediate state though looking assured" (31)?

4. What is Alan's family's religious background?

5. How long do Frank and Alan work on the Hardmann Roe case?

Short Essay Questions

1. What major event happens in Alan's life at Christmastime the year that Frank meets Nan, and how does Alan feel about it?

2. How does Nan react when Frank tells her his theory about the difference between men and women?

3. What do Frank and Alan do two months before their big case is supposed to be tried, and why do people tell them it is a bad idea?

4. What does Frank tell Nan is the difference between men and women?

5. What is the difference in Frank's and Alan's attitudes toward marriage?

6. What is the story that Nan Christie tells Frank about trying to find someone to date and marry?

7. What is similar and what is different about Frank's and Alan's fathers?

8. What is the outcome of Frank and Alan's big case, and how does it impact their careers?

9. What is "Hardmann Roe," and what role does it play in shaping Frank's and Alan's careers?

10. Who is Brenda, and what is Franks' relationship with her in the first section of the text?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In an early discussion of Alan's father's legal career, the narrator notes that “No defendant was too guilty, no case too clear-cut” (25). This leads to public disdain for Alan's father, but shortly afterward the reader sees the man himself in action, defending a black man in front of a bigoted jury. Reread this section of the text and then write an essay that considers how Alan's father functions as a metaphor for Salter himself and for his style of writing without sentimentality of the circumstances surrounding the immoral action of having sex with a minor. Support your assertions with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Salter has said that he does not agree that his sensibility as a writer is "French," but that regardless, he very much admires French writers for their lack of sentimentality. Write an essay that considers both to what extent "American Express" reveals this disdain for sentimentality and how this impacts its readers. Support your claims with textual evidence.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the significance of the medical imagery in "American Express." Be sure to defend your assertions with quoted textual evidence.

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