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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. In Chapter 10, what does Patty do in response to Paul's comments about her thoughts on the reality of modern women?

2. Who is Elaine Brooks?

3. Who leaves with the narrator in Chapter 3?

4. When Spenser tells Patty that he does not want a personal relationship with her, what is her reaction?

5. Who hires the narrator in Chapter 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Spenser not like the growing sense of intimacy that he describes in Chapter 10?

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

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. 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?

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

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

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

8. Spenser reluctantly takes the job of protecting Patty and Paul from Mel and his thugs. What reservations does Spenser have about taking the job, and why does he take it?

9. What does Spenser's preparation of the impromptu meal in Chapter 9 reveal about his character?

10. If you were Spenser, what would you have done differently in Chapter 2?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Paul Giacomin is at the heart of this story. He is the boy whose parents fight over him as if he were property; and the boy whom Spenser fights for in order to save his life. Explore Paul's character. Look through the text and use examples from it to support your ideas in relation to the kind of a person that Paul was before he met Spenser, and what kind of a person he was when he left Spenser to go to school.

Essay Topic 2

Mel and Patty have a complex relationship. They used to be in love, hence their marriage and Paul's birth. Somewhere along the way, that marriage disintegrated, leading to their separation and eventual divorce. Now their only purpose is to hurt each other in any way that they can, specifically to use Paul as the object to do that with.

Part 1) Explore the motivation that the two have to hurt each other the way that they do; why do you think that they do it?

Part 2) What effect has that relationship between his parents had on Paul?

Use specific examples from the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

As the book progresses, we learn that Spenser has a very sensitive and thoughtful side. He has some very deep thoughts on life and the way that it should be lived, including personal boundaries and living with yourself if you have to cross those boundaries. Use the text to explore those thoughts in greater detail.

Part 1) Why do you think that Spenser has those ideas?

Part 2) Why do you think that Spenser feels that it is important for Paul to understand such ideals?

Part 3) Do you agree with his ideals? Why? Why not?

(see the answer keys)

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