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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 industry at the heart of the hometown where Isaac and Poe live?

2. Whom does Grace consider sleeping with in order to get money for a lawyer for her son in Book Two?

3. What does Baron teach Isaac to do in Book Two?

4. How does Lee describe her marriage in Book One?

5. What word from Book Two refers to a thing that is necessary for the achievement to an ends?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Harris confronts Poe in the woods in Book Two?

2. How does the theme of fatalism apply to Grace and Billy Poe in Book One?

3. How does the theme of fatalism apply to Henry and Lee English in the novel?

4. What takes place in Grace Poe's narrative in Book Two?

5. What secrets are revealed in Book Two? How do these secrets serve the plot?

6. How is the character of Billy Poe described in Book One? What are his circumstances in the beginning of the novel?

7. What political struggles and conflicts plague Bud Harris in Book Two?

8. How is Isaac English described when his character is introduced in Book One? What are Isaac's circumstances in the beginning of the novel?

9. Where does Isaac plan to travel in Book One? Why?

10. Where do Isaac and Poe encounter the three drifters in Book One? Who are the drifters and how are they described?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's use of irony in American Rust. What are examples of situational irony in the narrative? What are examples of verbal and dramatic irony? What purpose does irony serve in each context?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and analyze the character of Poe in American Rust. How is Poe's background described? Where is Poe living when his character is introduced? How does Poe's character evolve in the story? Where is Poe in the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of secrets in American Rust. What are some of the principle secrets that are revealed in the course of the narrative? How is this theme developed through character? How is it developed through setting, symbolism, and imagery?

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