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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 does Augustine do to the drunk construction worker?

2. After talking to Peter in Chapter 6, where does Bonnie ask Augustine to take her?

3. Where does Augustine take Bonnie for the night after their search for Max fails?

4. What is Max going to do with the videotapes?

5. How does Edie's scam get noticed by the insurance man?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way have common household items become weapons of violence?

2. Bonnie wonders at the end of the Chapter 11 if Max is different now. How is he different?

3. Though shown as a kidnapper and torturer, Skink appears to be an ethical man. How so?

4. Suspense builds throughout Chapter 2. How does the author build that suspense?

5. Why and how does Bonnie question her choice of a husband?

6. What surprising news does Bonnie hear from Pete and how does it change the dynamic of her marriage?

7. What does Jim Tile reveal that adds to the dimension of Skink's character?

8. Though Ira Jackson has every right to be angry over the death of his mother, he is no saint himself and perhaps should not be judging Tony so harshly. What indicators has the author given the reader to show that Jackson is not an upstanding character?

9. In what way is it correct that Jim Tile worries about Skink?

10. How does the structure of Chapter 1 differ from a standard novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Carl Hiassen attempt to teach through his use of black humor? Is the lesson one that we should all listen to or does the black humor make it a farcical moral not worth listening to?

Essay Topic 2

How does Augustine's childhood affect who he is and the decisions he makes as an adult? How does Snapper's childhood affect who he is and the decisions he makes as an adult? What about other characters in the novel? Were backgrounds of others introduced to the reader ?

Essay Topic 3

How is Avila's need to hold sacrificial ceremonies black humor? Note specific places in the novel that show this humor. What is the author trying to tell the reader through these rituals?

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