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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 old woman instinctively know about Christmas without even seeing him?
(a) That he will be hanged for his crime
(b) That he is a murderer
(c) That he is their grandson
(d) That he is not capable of murder

2. Why will Lena not accept Byron's marriage proposal?
(a) Because Byron is of a different religious belief
(b) Because Byron does not make enough money to support her
(c) Because Byron is sexually unattractive to her
(d) Because she has not seen Joe Brown/Lucas Burch yet

3. What final horror is inflicted on Christmas before he dies?
(a) He must watch as his grandmother is stabbed.
(b) Percy Grimm castrates him.
(c) His throat is slashed.
(d) He is lynched.

4. Who do the townspeople think inspired Christmas to attempt an escape?
(a) Byron
(b) Mrs. Hines
(c) Hightower
(d) Lena

5. How old is Miss Burden when she discovers him stealing food from her house?
(a) Thirty-years old
(b) Fifty-three years old
(c) Twenty-five years old
(d) Forty-one years old

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Byron do when he returns to town?

2. Why do the townspeople leave the old couple alone?

3. How do the authorities know where Christmas is hiding?

4. How does the fading afternoon light seem to Hightower?

5. What happens after Byron approaches Brown near the railroad tracks?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Hightower so upset that Byron has asked for his help with the situations regarding Lena and Christmas?

2. Why are the townspeople anxious to find Miss Burden's killer?

3. How does Faulkner show that women are more realistic and more forgiving in this chapter?

4. Explain this statement made by Christmas: "Whether they are seventeen or fortyseven, when they finally come to surrender completely, it's going to be in words."

5. Why do the Negroes of Mottstown support Mr. Hines who preaches white supremacy in Negro churches?

6. How does Christmas know that he has run far enough for now?

7. What is the symbolism of the odor in Hightower's house?

8. Explain the irony in Miss Burden's nearly nymphomaniac behavior?

9. Why does Percy Grimm castrate Christmas while he is still alive?

10. Why does Christmas feel he will be safe at Miss Burden's place?

(see the answer keys)

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