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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 demeaning confession does Gleeson admit to Sughrue?

2. According to Professor Richter, what did Randall Jackson once do in San Francisco?

3. What did Betty Sue want from Jimmy when she called him?

4. What best describes Betty Sue and Albert Griffith's intimacy?

5. How does Charles Gleeson know Betty Sue?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Peggy Blain's explanation of Betty Sue contribute to the development of Betty Sue's allure?

2. What prompts Sughrue to say he will "rise and do what [he] knew he had to do, to what [he] owed the women"?

3. How does Betty Sue have the power to make Sughrue fall under her spell when they have never met?

4. What does Melinda's present life say about her now?

5. What events does the use of alcohol foreshadow as the book opens?

6. What does Sughrue's drastic actions with Jackson say about his involvement in the case?

7. Why would Sughrue just accept the beatings from Jackson's men?

8. Sughrue and Rosie concoct a story for the police. How does this story indirectly characterize them?

9. How does Sughrue treat Charles Gleeson? Why?

10. How does Trahearne react to the porn Professor Richter shows him and Sughrue?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Character traits are shown through their living quarters. Contrast Sughrue's acreage to Trahearne's home. How do their homes indirectly characterize them?

Essay Topic 2

Trahearne has previous and successful writing and writing that he is wanting to complete. These two types of writing are very different. What does Trahearne's writing symbolize at different stages in his life?

Essay Topic 3

How is Selma Hinds a catalyst in the novel?

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This section contains 709 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample