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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the narrator say is in short supply on Halloween night?
(a) Grace.
(b) Temperance.
(c) Mystery.
(d) Fear.

2. How do Francis and Rudy characterize themselves?
(a) Wanderers.
(b) Bums.
(c) Vagrants.
(d) Gypsies.

3. Where did Francis go after the first time he killed a man?
(a) West.
(b) North.
(c) Underground.
(d) South.

4. Where did Francis tell the intern in Indiana his fingertip was?
(a) In the weeds.
(b) In a river.
(c) Buried.
(d) On a train.

5. How does Francis characterize Sandra’s life?
(a) It wasn’t human any more.
(b) It was redeemed as she died.
(c) It had become angelic.
(d) It was squandered.

Short Answer Questions

1. What makes it possible for Francis and Rudy to eat at the Mission?

2. What kind of establishment is The Gilded Cage?

3. How familiar does Francis say trolleys are to him?

4. Where is Dante’s epigraph from?

5. How does Francis characterize Helen in bed?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator describe Gerald’s body in the grave?

2. What misfortune besets Helen after she returns to the Mission with Francis and Rudy?

3. What kinship does Francis have with the Phelan brothers?

4. What is the importance of Halloween in the book’s setting?

5. How did Francis end up with a job shoveling dirt at the cemetery?

6. What is Rowdy Dick Doolan’s role in Francis’ story?

7. Describe Francis and Helen’s visit to Jack and Clara’s flat.

8. What expression does Francis use when something is finally and absolutely concluded?

9. What is the message of the song Helen sings to Francis?

10. How is Francis feeling at the beginning of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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