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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. What does the narrator say the clouds resemble, when Francis is standing in the junkyard doorway?
2. How much does Francis take in pay from Rosskam?
3. What is Helen humming when she wakes up in the morning and starts to walk?
4. What revenge did Helen get on her mother?
5. What does Francis say was always easier than coming home?
Short Essay Questions
1. What memories does Rosskam’s sex talk evoke for Francis?
2. How did Helen’s father’s death change her life?
3. How does Helen feel about her life, when she is summing it up as she dies?
4. What peace does Francis establish with the ghosts who have been following him?
5. Describe Annie’s greeting when Francis arrives at her house.
6. How is Helen’s death different from other deaths in Ironweed?
7. Why is Helen angry with Francis, when she thinks about him in the hotel?
8. What does Francis buy from Rosskam, and what is its significance?
9. What kind of peace does Francis make with Annie?
10. What does Rosskam tell Francis about his sex life?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In what ways is Ironweed relevant to contemporary readers? What contemporary issues are in play in the book, and how would the book contribute to contemporary discussion? Cite specific discussions from contemporary sources, and cite specific instances from the book that describe its contemporary relevance.
Essay Topic 2
What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.
Essay Topic 3
How would Ironweed be different if it were told from a woman’s point of view? How would Annie, or Helen or Clara or Sandra change the nature of the book, and reveal the world of bums that Francis Phelan lives in?
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This section contains 987 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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