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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. Why is Henry punished with nightly drills?

2. What state is the building in that Henry and Myra arrive at?

3. What does Henry do when he wakes up, in Chapter 7?

4. What does Henry find when he wakes up after the party?

5. What do Henry and his dog smell when they hit the road at the end of Chapter 7?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Henry's experience of the war like?

2. Describe Henry's relationships at the beginning of the novel.

3. What is Henry's plan when he sets out on his trip?

4. Describe Henry's dinner with Van Hoss.

5. What does Henry think about cooking, and Elaine's cooking in particular?

6. Who is Red Ginter and what role does he play in Henry Lightcap's childhood?

7. Describe Henry's housewarming party.

8. What happens in the prelude?

9. Why does Joe spank Henry?

10. Who is Roggoway, and what is Henry's interaction with him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In chapter two, Joe remarks that Henry is in for a troubled life, and Lorraine says that at least it won't be a dull life. In what ways is Henry troubled? In what ways is his life the opposite of dull? (In what ways is he hardly troubled? In what ways is his life dull?)

Essay Topic 2

Henry Lightcap's family is half-Shawnee. How much do Native American values matter in 'Fool's Progress'? How is this side of Henry's history represented? Make the argument that 'Fool's Progress' is a novel about the Native American experience. Or make the argument that it is not.

Essay Topic 3

Assess the claim that in Henry Lightcap, Edward Abbey is dramatizing Thoreau's instruction to 'simplify, simplify, simplify'? In what ways is Henry Lightcap simplifying his life? In what ways is he always complicating it? What is the value of the simplicity he espouses?

(see the answer keys)

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