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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. After the father and son run from the nice looking house and hide, how many people do they see walking towards the house?

2. After spying on the people walking by, further down the road the father and son see a fire and smell food -- what do the they find cooking on the fire?

3. Why does the father decide to camp on the road?

4. The father carries his son across a field, but he has to stop every _____ steps.

5. After exploring the house the father heads back outside -- what does he find?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what happens when the father and son find the old abandoned train -- analyze the father's actions.

2. Analyze the son's reaction when, in Chapters 36-40, he realizes that the father is becoming more reliant on his opinion.

3. Describe how the father treats the old man that he and the son meet in Chapter 31.

4. Describe what the father and son find in Chapter 35 that symbolizes the end of the son's innocence.

5. Describe how the father makes lamps before he and the son enter the hidden cellar.

6. Describe what the father and son find in Chapter 21 after the father breaks open a locked pantry door.

7. Give an example from Chapters 21-25 that describes the son's naivety.

8. Recall how the father displays his paranoid attitude again while he and the son are staying in the hidden cellar.

9. Describe three things that the father and son find of use in Chapters 36-40.

10. Describe one example from Chapters 36-40 that demonstrates how the father is becoming more reliant on the son's opinion.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore the use of foreshadowing in the novel and analyze how it affects the story. How has this technique affected the plot of the story? Cite examples from the text to support your argument.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

The father always puts the son's needs before his own, as he wants so desperately for his son to have a better life. Examine the theme of love in the The Road.

Part 1) What does having unconditional love mean?

Part 2) How does his love for his son cause him to make rash decisions?

Part 3) Compare the father's love for his son to the son's love for his father.

(see the answer keys)

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