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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 is the spot of red that Frank observes in the river after Jake points it out?

2. For what purpose does Nathan give Frank and Jake money when he goes to talk to Ruth?

3. Why are Frank and Jake unable to play with Danny when they go to find him at the O'Keefes' house?

4. Who answers the door when Frank and Jake knock on the O'Keefes' door?

5. What promise does Nathan elicit from both Frank and Jake after his conversation with Ruth?

Short Essay Questions

1. What timeline does Karl present when he is questioned by the police?

2. What is the first action Frank takes when he gets home as a result of listening to Nathan's sermon?

3. What elements of family life at the Drums' home drive Ruth to leave the family to stay elsewhere for a while?

4. What happens to cause suspicion to fall on Warren Redstone in relation to Ariel's disappearance?

5. What, if any, clues do Karl, Frank, Jake, the sheriff, and Officer Doyle find when they get to Sibley Park, the site of the bonfire party?

6. In what ways are the complicated nature of the grief cycle demonstrated to the reader through the experiences of Frank and Jake?

7. What causes Ruth to get less and less hopeful about Ariel's safe return as phone calls continue to stream into their home?

8. Who acts as the go-between, bringing news back and forth between the police station and the Drum family and how does this role fit the character's relationship to the family?

9. What is the significance of how Frank spends the money he has been saving up from the yard work he does for his grandfather?

10. What revelations does the sheriff communicate to Nathan when they meet in Nathan's office at the church and who becomes a suspect as a result of these revelations?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one character from the novel. Discuss Krueger's use of the four characterization methods to depict this character: indirect description, direct description, revelation by self, and relation by others. How does Krueger use these methods to shape the reader's impression of the character?

Essay Topic 2

Many of the characters within the novel carry around various secrets, unduly burdening them and thus, the people who love them. What is the author's message regarding secrecy, deception, and catharsis?

Essay Topic 3

Within the epilogue, Frank states there "there is no such thing as a true event" (306). What does he mean and how do these words fit into the context of the novel's overarching themes?

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