View a FREE sample

1. Describe the setting for many of the stories in the book--Hohman, Indiana.

Hohman, Indiana is a simple Midwestern town that is filled with mills, plants, freight yards, bowling halls, union halls, and beer halls. Both winters and summers in Hohman can be harsh, but people are tougher than most and do not let weather get in the way of conducting their normal business. Hohman is a place that no one really comes to, but the author says that people mostly just want to leave the town.

2. What does the reader learn about the main character in the opening chapter?

We learn many things about Ralph in the first chapter of the book. We know he grew up in Hohman, Indiana but now lives in New York. He is a writer and is coming back to write an article titled "The Return of the Native to the Indiana Mill Town," and his first stop is Flick's Tavern--a bar owned by his old childhood friend, Flick. We know that Ralph is a good storyteller and has a sense of humor based on some early observations.

(read all 60 Short Essay Questions and Answers)

This section contains 4,614 words (approx. 16 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample