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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 does the wife of the local wealthy businessman regard Grace when they meet at the bar in Book Four?

2. What does Poe's cell-mate masturbate to in the cell with Poe in Book Four?

3. How do the prison guards feel about Poe's cell-mate?

4. What does the justice of the peace warn Harris about when they meet in Book Three?

5. What couple comes to meet Grace at the bar to cheer her up in Book Four?

Short Essay Questions

1. What internal conflicts does Henry English face in Book Four?

2. What do Isaac and Baron do upon arriving in the outskirts of Detroit in Book Three?

3. How has Issac's character evolved in Book Three? How are the changes in Isaac's character revealed?

4. What is foreshadowed by the conversation between Grace and Harris in Book Four?

5. What is Lee's response after a police officer comes to look for her brother in Book Three?

6. How has Billy Poe's character evolved in Book Four? What has led to the changes in Poe's character?

7. What is illustrated through the theft of Isaac's money in Book Three?

8. What does Poe decide to do at the end of Book Three? Why?

9. What does Bud Harris discuss with his friends Riley, Chester, and Frank at the Dead End bar in Book Four?

10. What inner conflicts does Grace Poe face in the beginning of Book Three?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the character of Bud Harris in American Rust. What is Harris's position in Buell? What is his relationship to Grace and Billy Poe? What actions does Harris commit in the narrative? Are these actions noble or dishonorable? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and analyze the plot structure of American Rust. Where in the narrative do the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement occur? How traditionally structured is the plot of the novel? Would you describe the ending of the novel to be hopeful or tragic? Why?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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This section contains 952 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample