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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 happened to Allison's father, Walter?

2. What does Allison say she would do for work when Will asks her?

3. What did Marion NOT know about at the nursing home?

4. Complete the quote, "Everybody thinks that there are only two things: war which is a kind of life in death, and peace which is ______."

5. What does Kitty think is wrong with Allison?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Will sees himself in the mirror of his Mercedes after leaving the greenhouse, what does he think he looks like?

2. What forces Will to leave the cave?

3. What happens to Will's guns at the end of the novel?

4. What does Allison enjoy about taking care of Will that makes her think she should nurse comatose patients?

5. What happened to the tiger skeleton that used to be in the cave?

6. How does Allison feel about doing the errands that Will asks her to do?

7. Where does Will take Allison when they leave the greenhouse?

8. Why does Will end up needing to be in Dr. Vance's daily care?

9. What does Will take with him into the cave?

10. What happens in the secret room that Jack Curl shows Will at the convalescent home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do you think the title, The Second Coming signifies? Write an essay explaining what you think the author is referring to in the title, providing examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Allison has been trained her whole life to be a singer and a musician, but she finds herself unable to perform in public. She realizes that she is really good at manual labor. Write an essay discussing how Allison's character develops throughout the book, using her abilities and disabilities as a way to talk about her development. Use examples from the text to support your argument.

Essay Topic 3

One of Walker Percy's main themes in the novel The Second Coming is identity. Discuss how the characters in the novel deal with their identities, using at least two characters to compare and contrast. Provide specific examples from the text to support your discussion.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 624 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample