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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 do the father and son find in the woods that they eat for dinner?

2. Along the road, the father and son come upon a man -- what is wrong with the man?

3. Where do the father and son hide while spying on the people climbing out of a truck?

4. The father and son come to a stone wall -- what is hanging from the wall?

5. What are the father and son trying so hard to find at the supermarket?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what the father does in Chapters 11-15 that accentuates his paranoia, citing an example.

2. Give an example that demonstrates the father's stubbornness and how he has somewhat lost touch with reality.

3. Give one example from Chapter 5 that demonstrates how the father is not functioning well psychologically.

4. At the beginning of Chapter 11, describe where the father and son bathe and what they eat for dinner.

5. Explain what is revealed in Chapter 15 about the father's wife.

6. Recall examples from Chapters 1-5 that demonstrate how the father tries to protect the son, and how the son tries to protect the father.

7. Explain how the father is failing his son.

8. Describe what happens when the father and son arrive at the father's old house.

9. Describe how the father restricts the son from his humanitarian instincts.

10. Explain how the father demonstrates perseverance in Chapters 16 through 20.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the concept of trust and mistrust in the The Road, also explaining how it affects the son. The father's mistrust of others does keep them safe; however, does it also hold them back? Has the father's mistrust of others made the son naïve about their current situation? How has the father's mistrust of others made the son unhappy?

Essay Topic 2

In The Road, the cities are deserted or destroyed, plant life is gone, animals have disappeared. Something catastrophic has happened to the world. Examine the conflict of Person vs. Nature, citing examples from the text that demonstrate how the characters are up against the forces of nature.

Essay Topic 3

Although the landscape and destruction are mentioned, the author never explains what caused the devastation. Explore the cause of this devastation, refer to the clues that are provided to the reader.

• How does the landscape suggest an epidemic -- could it be environmental, caused by man through war, or both?

• Why is it difficult to truly assess the situation of the world, and how is the father an unreliable witness?

• How does not explaining the disaster add to the paranoia and confusion that the reader feels from the father?

(see the answer keys)

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