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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 type of animal does Silas hope to shoot with the weapon Larry lends him?

2. What object does Larry come home to find "waiting" in his house in the first sentence of the novel?

3. How far is it from Larry's house to the house of his nearest neighbor?

4. What does the narration say would be "okay with Larry" (7) at the end of Chapter 1?

5. Before his death, M and M had been known to local authorities as what type of criminal?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Silas's reaction when Larry tells a story about Cecil's reckless use of fireworks?

2. What does Silas ultimately find underneath the flock of buzzards?

3. Discuss a moment in the text when Franklin causes the reader to wonder about Larry's role in the murders he is suspected by the community as having committed.

4. What details does Franklin use in order to indicate to the reader just how small Cabot, Mississippi really is and how it functions as such?

5. What had been the impetus for Silas and his mother's move out of south Chicago?

6. In Chapter 8, at the diner, Silas tells Angie a variety of "things he'd never said out loud" (141). Name several of these.

7. In what way is the theme of family bonds underscored within Chapter 1?

8. What is the significance of Carl's praise toward Larry when he finds out Larry has a date with Cindy?

9. In what way, if any, does Carl finally address with Larry the subject of the fight over the rifle?

10. What conclusions does Silas draw about the remains of a marijuana cigarette he finds in the grass at Larry's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the reasons why the novel Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter uses a third person omniscient narrator. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what is Franklin's intended effect on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Franklin's messages about guilt and responsibility within the novel Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Franklin's message about life in a small town.

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