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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Jones want a business partner in the venture he is planning?
(a) To manage the financial side while he arranges the business contacts.
(b) To watch things while he travels.
(c) To assist him with the planning.
(d) To take over when he retires.

2. When Brown hears footsteps outside his hotel, what weapon does he grab?
(a) A pistol.
(b) The coffin paperweight.
(c) A fire iron.
(d) A decorative sword.

3. Lying on the ground next to his pool, Brown thinks that he and Martha are more intimate than ever before. Why is this?
(a) They make love gently.
(b) They do not talk.
(c) They talk about running away together.
(d) They trust each other with words rather than a touch.

4. How does the new Secretary for Social Welfare cast suspicion on Doctor Philipot's death?
(a) He suggests that the doctor could not pay his gambling debts.
(b) He suggests that the doctor should not have invested in the shanty-town speculation.
(c) He suggests that there was just retribution by the authorities.
(d) He suggests that he was deceitful about the water pipes on Desaix Street.

5. Mrs. Smith is proud of the American ballot that shows her husband's name as a presidential candidate. What is Brown's perception of voting in Haiti?
(a) The effort is not worth the outcome.
(b) A person is safer staying home.
(c) Only votes that agree with the Tonton Macoute will count.
(d) Every vote is important.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Martha comes to visit Brown at his hotel, what alters their plans to go upstairs?

2. What does Jones forget at the hotel when he and Brown flee?

3. While listening to Mr. Smith describe the vegetarian center, what does the Secretary for Social Welfare doodle on his paper?

4. When Brown asks the ambassador to allow Jones to stay in his house, what is the ambassador's reaction?

5. How do the policemen retaliate for the attack on the police station?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Jones realizes that Captain Conasseur is curious about his actions, he comes to Brown's hotel in a panic. What does this tell us about Jones's plan to get rich? How prepared is he to deal with the Tonton Macoutes?

2. When Jones and Brown board the Medea so Jones can ask for asylum, Brown describes the ship's captain like a judge. What is the effect of this appearance? Is this the first time a judge figure has appeared in the book? How does this contrast to Haitian culture?

3. Brown feels that the happiest moment he spent with Martha was when they lay outside on the grass, talking. How does this compare to his initial feelings about the relationship? What does this moment portend about the future of their relationship?

4. Though Brown does not want to board the Medea for a last drink with the purser, he feels attached to the ship and the memories there. What does this say about Brown's loneliness? Is he happy alone in his hotel?

5. When Brown's car breaks down on the road, he and Jones take refuge in a cemetery until the morning. How does this fit their time in Haiti? How does it portend what is to come?

6. Why do the Smiths change their minds about opening a vegetarian center? How does the Secretary for Social Welfare misunderstand Mr. Smith?

7. From even their first meeting, Brown hesitates to address Jones as "Major Jones." How does this begin to explain Jones's character? How does it prepare the reader for the revelation that Jones has never even seen a man die?

8. As the two men wait out the night in the cemetery, Jones tells Brown the truth about his life. Is this a fitting time for his confession? Why would he confess to Brown instead of anyone else?

9. In order to leave the Medea to travel to the British embassy, Jones dresses as a woman. What is the effect of this costume? How does it reflect on Jones?

10. The night before he takes Jones out of Port-au-Prince, Brown wanders through his empty hotel. What does it reveal to the reader about Brown's personality? What is the effect of this scene?

(see the answer keys)

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