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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. Where do the cars come from that are used in the attacks?

2. What does the family learn about Coalhouse Walker, Jr.?

3. Where is Sarah funeral held?

4. When the New York City papers get the story, what happens with Chief Conklin?

5. Most people think that it was the work of a group of armed men, but what does the newspaper suggest?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Sarah at the rally?

2. Why is Emma Goldman arrested after Coalhouse takes over the museum?

3. Describe Morgan's buildings on Madison Avenue in Murray Hill.

4. What causes the theater to shake where Houdini is performing?

5. That spring, what happens at the Matteawan State Prison Farm?

6. Why does J. P. Morgan want to meet with Henry Ford?

7. What causes Younger Brother to run out of the parlor one evening after dinner?

8. How do the police learn about the history of Coalhouse Walker, Jr.?

9. What brings Younger Brother back to life after his breakup with Evelyn?

10. What happens on Houdini's tour of Europe?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the rags-to-riches story of Tateh, aka Baron Ashkenazy. Tateh's story is the embodiment of the American dream--the poor immigrant who eventually achieves success. While you write this account focus on the moral shift in Tateh's thinking. Note the difference in his uptight morality that drove his wife and Evelyn away in the early part of the story and his romping with Mother in Atlantic City as the reinvented Baron Ashkenazy. There are even sexual overtones to the scene where they are searching for The Boy and The Girl and eventually they marry.

Essay Topic 2

Write your personal review of RAGTIME and make a recommendation for other readers. Write this paper as though you are a book reviewer for a large newspaper or national magazine. Be honest about what you liked or did not like about the book. [That it was required reading in class does not count as a reason to dislike the book.] Be specific when giving your reasons by quoting passages from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Look up information on Henry Ford and the assembly line production of Model-T cars and write a brief paper. What did Ford's assembly line have to do with Coalhouse Walker's ability to own a brand new Model-T? What does Coalhouse's car symbolize to the men at Emerald Isle Fire Station? Does ownership of the car give Coalhouse an air of superiority? Analyze how the car might have affected Father who never really liked Coalhouse. When Father and The Boy go into New York to the Giants game, they take the train. Even though he can afford a car, why does the family not seem to have one?

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