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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. Why did Miss Thelma call Chick chickadoodle-do?

2. Why does Chick lie to his family about a trip out of town on his mother's birthday?

3. What would Posey tell her children when they would ask about patients she cared for who had died?

4. From what team is the scout Chick meets after a game one day during college?

5. What does Chick learn about his mother while he and she are visiting with Miss Thelma?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the two days at college Chick shares with the reader?

2. What explanation does Posey give to Chick about how people are dying call her to their sides?

3. Why does Chick suspect he is suffering from temporary insanity?

4. What do they call a short stay in professional baseball?

5. On whom does Chick blame the break up of his marriage?

6. What does Chick hear when he answers the phone at Rose's house?

7. What happens when Chick hears the strange voice once again?

8. What do Posey and Chick talk about over dinner?

9. Whose voice does Chick hear as he goes to open the door at his mother's house in Section 3, Part 1?

10. Who encouraged Chick to drop out of college?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Chick's lists. Why does Chick keep a list of the things his mother did to stand up for him and the times he failed to stand up for his mother? What do these lists tell the reader about Chick's relationship with is mother? What do these lists tell the reader about Posey's feelings for her son? Do these lists help Chick in any way? Were these lists kept before or after the accident that brought Chick one more day with his mother?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the writer's style. Discuss in detail the writer's choice to structure his book in the way he has, the use of the newspaper clips and lists, his choice of words, his use of dialogue, and his choice of chapter names. Discuss how each of these choices affects the reader's overall impression of the novel and the themes within the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Who does Chick see standing over him after he jumps from the water tower? Why does Chick doubt what he is seeing? Who does Chick spend the rest of the day with? Why is this not possible? Why does the impossibility of this not clue Chick in to the idea that something is not right with him? What is the voice Chick continuously hears throughout the day? What does this voice mean to the reader? What does it ultimately mean to Chick? How does Chick respond to the voice?

(see the answer keys)

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