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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what city does this story take place?
(a) New York City.
(b) Boston.
(c) Los Angeles.
(d) Miami.

2. Who is Mel Giacomin?
(a) A dentist.
(b) Spenser's client.
(c) A hoodlum Spenser knows from the past.
(d) Patty's ex-husband and Paul's father.

3. What book is Spenser reading in Chapter 7?
(a) Of Mice and Men.
(b) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
(c) A Distant Mirror.
(d) To Kill a Mockingbird.

4. What does Patty want Spenser to do in Chapter 7?
(a) To deliver a message to Mel.
(b) To go to her house in Lexington.
(c) To help her find her sister.
(d) To retrieve Paul again.

5. In Chapter 5, what is Patty's first response to Spenser and Paul's entrance?
(a) She throws her arms around Paul and gives him a big hug.
(b) She cries and runs to her son.
(c) "Oh, Paul, I didn't expect you so soon."
(d) "Where were you?"

Short Answer Questions

1. Who are the two men who force their way into Patty's house in Chapter 11?

2. In Chapter 8, how long was the time period that Spenser was gone following breakfast?

3. In Chapter 2, who is the narrator staking out and trying to find?

4. What did Paul say about his own father and cooking?

5. Who is the tall man with the boot camp crew-cut and a navy watch cap who entered Patty's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 6 we are introduced to Spenser's girlfriend, Susan Silverman. What type of a person does she seem to be, and how does that contrast or compliment Spenser's personality?

2. What type of person does Mel Giacomin appear to be?

3. By the beginning of Chapter 6, some time has passed since Spenser's case with the Giacomins; but, he really cannot stop thinking about the whole situation. It bothers him at a basketball game during a date with his girlfriend, Susan. What does this extended concern that Spenser shows for Paul and the discontent that Spenser feel for Patty and Mel show about Spenser's character?

4. What does the discussion that Patty and Spenser have in Chapter 8 reveal to the audience about Patty's real character?

5. Do you think that it was wise for Spenser to have entered Giacomin's house the way that he did?

6. What type of person does Patty Giacomin seem to be?

7. When Paul arrives home, what is the reaction that mother and son both give and receive?

8. Based on what we read in Chapter 2, what types of personal qualities would be necessary to handle Spenser's job? Why?

9. In Chapter 11, Spenser and Paul have a discussion about why Spenser did not shoot the intruders. What does Spenser tell Paul about his reluctance to shoot Buddy and Harold?

10. In Chapter 10, Patty propositions Spenser, who politely rejects her advances. The two have a fairly lengthy discussion about the event, during which we learn more about Patty's feelings of self worth. What are those feelings?

(see the answer keys)

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