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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. In the screenplay description of the inmates "yelling from cell to cell," what does the screenplay say about how most of the voices clearly sound?

2. What is the subtitle of the movie listed in the credits in Chapter 1?

3. Who is the author of this book?

4. During Karyl's testimony, there is a close up shot of crime scene photos. Which part of the victim's body can be seen in these photos?

5. How old is Mr. Nesbitt at the time of his murder?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Steve not hungry on the morning of Monday, July 6?

2. Why do prison officials take away prisoners' shoelaces and your belt?

3. What happens when a preacher comes to visit the prisoners?

4. Why do the charges against Wendell Bolden get dropped?

5. Why does Johnny, the ringleader of the eventual crime, want to rob a pharmacy instead of a bank?

6. Why is one of the other prisoners, Acie, not worried about his impending verdict?

7. In the prologue, Steve says "they say you get used to being in jail." What is Steve's take on this passage?

8. What does Star Wars have to do with the way Steve designs the beginning of his film?

9. When Steve decides to write a movie, what does he say it will be a story of?

10. What are the reasons, according to O'Brien, that Steve should take this trial "very, very seriously"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does this novel communicate to the reader about personal responsibility and guilt? Write an analysis describing and investigating what Myers thinks about these two issues. Be sure to offer working definitions of each, personal responsibility as well as guilt, and determine, through specific and explicit textual analysis, the ways in which these two issues are similar to each other and/or differ from each other.

Essay Topic 2

Write a detailed essay explaining the long-term effects Steve's experience in prison will have on him, based on the end of the the novel. Be sure to include not only how Steve has changed--and how these changes will affect him--but also how his experience has changed his relationships with his family or friends. You must include examples from at least two of his relationships with other people.

Essay Topic 3

The fact that Steve is African American plays an important role in the way his court case seems to go, as well as in the way he feels about himself. Describe and analyze the role that race plays in this narrative. You may want to include examples from other characters, white and black, to make your case.

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