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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What evidence did the clerk from town contribute to the discussion Arthur Lux and Vinny Pearson had with John?
(a) That Kathy had threatened to ruin John's career.
(b) That John and Kathy had been arguing.
(c) That John had threatened to kill Kathy.
(d) That Kathy had threatened to leave John.

2. What imagery does O'Brien use to convey the scene of John's anger and Kathy's reaction to it?
(a) The scent of wet wool.
(b) The sound of screaming.
(c) The comparison of John's pain to electric eels.
(d) The sound of water splashing.

3. What shape does John's awareness of his action take?
(a) Horror at the sight of what he's done.
(b) Sorrow over the redness and blisters on Kathy's skin.
(c) Terror at the silence coming from Kathy now.
(d) Repugnance from the smell of dead foliage.

4. What did one of the members of John's company have attached to his helmet?
(a) A ponytail from a Vietnamese victim.
(b) Condoms.
(c) Pistol rounds.
(d) Letters from home.

5. What do John and Kathy do on their seventh day at the cabin?
(a) Swim and lie in the sun.
(b) Clean the cabin.
(c) Read and sleep and make love.
(d) Put in a garden.

6. What does John tell himself about Weatherby?
(a) That he was going to have to pay for what happened to Weatherby.
(b) That he wasn't responsible for Weatherby's death.
(c) That Weatherby was going to die anyway.
(d) That nothing could have saved Weatherby.

7. Where did the sheriff come out to the lake from?
(a) St. Paul.
(b) Baudette.
(c) Minneapolis.
(d) Rainy River.

8. What cost John the victory in the election?
(a) A surprise revelation.
(b) Criminal charges.
(c) Illness.
(d) A sexual harassment complaint.

9. What does John promise Kathy they will take on their travels?
(a) Lots of money.
(b) Lots of children.
(c) A senator's authority.
(d) Their innocence.

10. What did John say about the thing he arranged for Kathy?
(a) It was worth the separation.
(b) It was bad timing.
(c) It was the best way.
(d) It was good for her character.

11. What was John's nickname in Vietnam?
(a) Sorcerer.
(b) Lucky.
(c) Senator.
(d) Mister.

12. What does John remember about the night of the boiling plants after Arthur Lux and Vinny Pearson leave?
(a) Digging a hole.
(b) Walking into the bedroom.
(c) Taking the boat out.
(d) Carrying Kathy.

13. What does John think Kathy thinks of him?
(a) That he is too furious to be around.
(b) That he wants to kill everything around him.
(c) That nothing is good enough for him.
(d) That he is psychotic and out of control.

14. What is John's hypothesis in Chapter 9 "Hypothesis"?
(a) That he killed Kathy.
(b) That Kathy went to get help for him and was injured along the way.
(c) That someone killed Kathy.
(d) That Kathy just walked away from the cabin.

15. What did John do in the middle of the night?
(a) Pours boiling water on Kathy's face.
(b) Pours boiling water on the houseplants.
(c) Pours boiling water on his pictures.
(d) Pours boiling water on his hands.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does John say he might have slept through the outboard motor starting on the boat?

2. What has just taken place when In the Lake of the Woods begins?

3. Where did John and Kathy meet?

4. What had John and Kathy tried to do, that had been a failure?

5. What does the narrator hypothesize in Chapter 14, "Hypothesis"?

(see the answer keys)

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