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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. The day before Brown and Jones leave, why does Captain Concasseur visit Brown at his hotel?

2. In Chapter 1 of Part 2, when Brown takes Mr. Smith to the post office, what happens?

3. What has Jones never seen before?

4. What day do Brown and Jones leave town?

5. As Luigi the Italian is gambling, why he is depressed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of saying Doctor Philipot's coffin is filled with bricks?

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. At the end of Part 2, Chapter 1, Brown comes to a realization about himself. What is this realization? How does it change the reader's understanding of him? How does it fit with his wandering to the casino and then to the Medea, talking with the purser?

6. When Brown attends the Voodoo ceremony with Joseph, several white-wrapped bodies are held close to the flame so that the skin burns. What is the effect of this scene? What is its possible antecedent?

7. What is the purpose of the Tonton Macoutes' visit to Brown at six o'clock in the morning? Do they expect to find anyone?

8. 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?

9. Why do Mr. and Mrs. Smith refer several times to their experience in Nashville? Brown wonders this himself, when Mrs. Smith references that incident in order to win an argument with her husband.

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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of Part Two, Chapter Two, Mrs. Smith apologizes for being comic figures, and Brown corrects her, saying they are heroic. Which of these is true: are the Smiths comic or heroic? What actions or characteristics fit each role? Give examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Examine the role of the girls at Mere Catherine's establishment. What part do they play in the story, particularly Tin Tin? How do the men treat the girls? From what the author tells the reader, what role do these girls play in Haitian society?

Essay Topic 3

How does Jones's funeral tie the story together? Include all the characters who are present and the ways they react to the funeral. How is it fitting that all characters are brought together for this funeral? Can the honorable funeral be a form of forgiveness for Jones's lies?

(see the answer keys)

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