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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. When is Chapter 8, "How the Night Passed", set?

2. What is the relationship between Arthur Lux and Vinny Pearson?

3. What time did John get up after the night of the boiling plants?

4. What does Claude Rasmussen say about Vinny Pearson's suspicions?

5. Who is Harmon?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the problem with the hypothesis in Chapter 14?

2. What does Kathy tell John in a letter to him in Vietnam?

3. How does Kathy die in the hypothesis in Chapter 14?

4. Why did John lose the election?

5. What is Claude Rasmussen's opinion about what happened?

6. Why did John join the military?

7. How well are John and Kathy doing, at coping with events?

8. What did John tell himself about what he did to Weatherby?

9. What limits are imposed on the omniscience of the narrator?

10. Describe the difference between Arthur Lux and Vinny Pearson.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is Tim O'Brien doing with the form of the novel by refusing to answer the question of Kathy's disappearance? How is 'In the Lake of the Woods' different from the 'typical' novel? What is the benefit of that difference? What are the drawbacks?

Essay Topic 2

How does this book create its effect on the reader? Describe in detail how Tim O'Brien uses a combination of suspense and details to draw the reader in.

Essay Topic 3

To what extent is this book an allegory? To what extent is it bound in time as a product of the Vietnam War? If it is an allegory, what is it an allegory for? What experiences are at the heart of it? What eternal fact of the human heart does this allegory introduce us to?

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