View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Buddy Lee think about the person he encounters at the cemetery in Chapter Sixteen?

2. What do the police come to tell Ike in Chapter One?

3. What distracts one of the intruders just before he is ready to shoot Buddy Lee?

4. What health problem has Buddy Lee recently developed in Chapter Five?

5. What did Ike do during one of his last fights with his son in Chapter Four?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter Twenty, why does LaPlata visit Buddy Lee?

2. In Chapter Nineteen, who comes to see Ike at his shop and what happens there?

3. In Chapter One, what do the police come to Ike's house to tell him?

4. In Chapter Two, what do Buddy Lee and Ike seem to have in common?

5. In Chapter Five, what is Ike really afraid of about going after his son's killers?

6. In Chapter Two, what does Buddy Lee want Ike to do with him?

7. In Chapter Twelve, what does Ike say to Buddy Lee about the difference between prison sentences for white and Black men?

8. In Chapter Six, what does Grayson do?

9. In Chapter Four, what did Ike sometimes do with Isaiah when he was a teenager that Isaiah never took to?

10. In Chapter Sixteen, what are some reasons Buddy Lee is so bitter towards his ex-wife?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Cosby establish and maintain suspense throughout this novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How does Cosby describe Ike's history with police and law enforcement, and why is this relevant throughout the book? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Cosby explain Buddy Lee's complicated feelings about his ex-wife Christine? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 649 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample