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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 grizzly sight do Josh, Swan, and Leona see when they enter the K-mart?

2. What does Leona think she sees in Josh's face?

3. The men who rescue sister's group ride what kind of a vehicle?

4. What does a man do in Sister Creep's dream?

5. After the collapse, Macklin worries about what resource within Earth House?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sister Creep react to seeing the Spanish woman's dead child?

2. Describe Sister Creep's reaction when she emerges from the subway tunnels.

3. What does "the man who likes movies" want when he is at the Empire State Theatre, and how does he get it?

4. Describe the problem that occurs at Earth House just after the nuclear attacks begin.

5. What happens at PawPaw's store when the nuclear attacks begin?

6. Describe the game that Alvin and his followers force Josh to play.

7. What unusual abilities does Swan seem to possess?

8. What connections are drawn between Doyle Halland and wolves in this section?

9. What is the state of the survivors in PawPaw's shelter at the end of Chapter 17?

10. Describe the ritual that the survivors in Paul's cabin carry out every day.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Roland is one of the primary antagonists of the novel. A deeply flawed child at the beginning of the story, Roland only degrades from his initial position of extreme moral deprivation. When Friend, a supernatural being of pure evil who may be an embodiment of the devil himself, encounters Roland, he describes it like looking into a mirror.

1) Explain who Roland is and how he became an important player in the post-blast world.

2) Discuss Roland's moral flaws, including their origins and impacts on him, and the lowest depths to which Roland is willing to sink.

3) Explain the ways that Roland is able to deal with the violence he causes and sees around him and how he justifies his own works. Explain how the King's Knight game plays into this belief system.

4) Explain why Roland needs a strong figure, such as Macklin or Friend, to follow.

5) Track Roland's descent throughout the novel to the point when he asks to follow Friend and is rejected.

Essay Topic 2

In the post-blast setting, trust is extended rarely, but its effects are sometimes profoundly important. Due to the lawlessness and brutality of the world around them, few survivors can trust one another, but they must learn to do so in order to survive. Groups like Macklin's army are built around fear and discipline, but groups like Sister's and Swan's, or even the survivor settlements like Homewood and Mary's Rest, are all founded on trust.

1) Discuss the difficulties that people have in trusting each other in this setting. Why is lack of trust a reasonable reaction?

2) Explain some examples of how trust develops between individuals and within groups. Describe some of the benefits that the survivors gain by trusting each other.

3) Describe at least one example of when trust failed to develop, and all parties involved suffered as a result.

4) Explain how trust drives the story forward at various points.

5) Explain why trust is still slow to develop and difficult to maintain, despite its benefits.

Essay Topic 3

After the nuclear blasts, people try to recover and form new communities. The people in these settlements are often just at the brink of survival and are extremely wary of losing their precarious position. The communities are small and poor. Their suffering is still widespread.

1) Discuss how settlements and communities form in the time after the blasts. What resources cause communities to gather at particular points?

2) Explain the economies and social arrangements in post-blast communities.

3) Use specific examples from the book to explain ways in which residents of these communities deal with outsiders and potential threats.

(see the answer keys)

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