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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 is done with Martin’s body after he is killed in Chapter Four?

2. What is the date of Peter’s first diary entry in Chapter Fifteen?

3. What are the names of Peter’s two sons?

4. When is Chapter Twenty-two set?

5. In Chapter Sixteen, Eli says that the Comanches own all the territory between Mexico and where during the time that Eli is with them?

Short Essay Questions

1. What time period is Chapter Four set in? How old is Eli, and what position does he have within his family?

2. What gender biases does Jeanne face growing up, as seen in Chapters Fourteen through Seventeen?

3. What prompts Jeanne’s decision to side with Phineas in Chapter Twenty?

4. How do Eli and Martin differ in their response to the circumstances once they are captives in Chapter Four?

5. How is Peter’s relationship with the Garcia family illustrated in Chapter Three?

6. What information does Phineas present to Jeanne when she visits him in Austin in Chapter Twenty?

7. How are the living conditions of the Indians described in Chapter Nineteen?

8. What concerns Jeanne the most as she faces her own death in Chapter Five?

9. What are Jeanne’s perceptions of her classmates at the girl’s boarding school in Chapter Seventeen?

10. How does Jeanne perceive her father’s death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss the reasons that Toshaway’s tribe feels justified in their raids in Texas and the southwest. Do you think that the Indians were justified, granted the behavior of the whites? Why or why not? How might these matters have been addressed differently?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the theme of “America’s creation myth” in The Son. How would you describe your personal idea of the creation myth of America? How is this myth displayed in the novel? Do you think that author Philipp Meyer brings up questions of the myth of America in the course of his story? How?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of “history versus reality” in The Son. How reliable are the narrators of the story? Do you believe that each of the narrators is relating direct truth? Why or why not? How does “history” from the books differ from the realities of the past? How are these differences highlighted in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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