A Simple Plan: A Novel Lesson Plans

A Simple Plan: A Novel by Scott Smith (author)

(c)2015 BookRags, Inc. All rights reserved.
Contents
A Simple Plan: A Novel Lesson Plans.......................................................................................... 1

Contents...................................................................................................................................... 2

Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 4

Lesson Calendar.......................................................................................................................... 9

Chapter Abstracts...................................................................................................................... 18

Character Descriptions.............................................................................................................. 25

Object Descriptions.................................................................................................................... 27

Daily Lessons............................................................................................................................ 29

Fun Activities.............................................................................................................................. 59

Essay Topics.............................................................................................................................. 62

Short Essay Questions.............................................................................................................. 65

Short Essay Questions Key....................................................................................................... 74

Multiple Choice.......................................................................................................................... 88

Multiple Choice Key................................................................................................................. 116

Short Answer Questions........................................................................................................... 117

Short Answer Questions Key................................................................................................... 144

Oral Reading Evaluation Sheet................................................................................................ 171

Reading Assignment Sheet...................................................................................................... 172

Writing Evaluation Form........................................................................................................... 173

One Week Quiz A.................................................................................................................... 174

Two Week Quiz A..................................................................................................................... 177

Four Week Quiz A.................................................................................................................... 180

Four Week Quiz B.................................................................................................................... 183

Eight Week Quiz A................................................................................................................... 186

Eight Week Quiz B................................................................................................................... 189

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Eight Week Quiz C................................................................................................................... 192

Eight Week Quiz D................................................................................................................... 195

Eight Week Quiz E................................................................................................................... 198

Eight Week Quiz F................................................................................................................... 201

Eight Week Quiz G.................................................................................................................. 204

Mid-Book Test - Easy............................................................................................................... 207

Final Test - Easy...................................................................................................................... 213

Mid-Book Test - Medium.......................................................................................................... 219

Final Test - Medium.................................................................................................................. 227

Mid-Book Test - Hard............................................................................................................... 235

Final Test - Hard....................................................................................................................... 243

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Introduction
Teaching A Simple Plan: A Novel
The A Simple Plan: A Novel lesson plan contains a variety of teaching materials that
cater to all learning styles. Inside you'll find 30 Daily Lessons, 20 Fun Activities, 180
Multiple Choice Questions, 60 Short Essay Questions, 20 Essay Questions,
Quizzes/Homework Assignments, Tests, and more. The lessons and activities will help
students gain an intimate understanding of the text, while the tests and quizzes will help
you evaluate how well the students have grasped the material.

Target Grade: 7th-12th (Middle School and High School)

Length of Lesson Plan: Approximately 129 pages. Page count is estimated at 300
words per page. Length will vary depending on format viewed.

Browse The A Simple Plan: A Novel Lesson Plan:

 Introduction  Short Essay Questions

 Lesson Calendar  Multiple Choice
 Chapter Abstracts  Short Answer Questions
 Character Descriptions  Worksheets and Evaluation Forms
 Object Descriptions  Quizzes
 Daily Lessons  Tests
 Fun Activities  Quiz/Test Generator
 Essay Topics

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Full Lesson Plan Overview
Completely Customizable!

The A Simple Plan: A Novel lesson plan is downloadable in PDF and Word. The Word
file is viewable with any PC or Mac and can be further adjusted if you want to mix
questions around and/or add your own headers for things like "Name," "Period," and
"Date." The Word file offers unlimited customizing options so that you can teach in the
most efficient manner possible. Once you download the file, it is yours to keep and print
for your classroom.

Lesson Plan Calendars

The Lesson Plan Calendars provide daily suggestions about what to teach. They
include detailed descriptions of when to assign reading, homework, in-class work, fun
activities, quizzes, tests and more. Use the entire A Simple Plan: A Novel calendar, or
supplement it with your own curriculum ideas. Calendars cover one, two, four, and eight
week units. Determine how long your A Simple Plan: A Novel unit will be, then use one
of the calendars provided to plan out your entire lesson.

Chapter Abstracts

Chapter abstracts are short descriptions of events that occur in each chapter of A
Simple Plan: A Novel. They highlight major plot events and detail the important
relationships and characteristics of important characters. The Chapter Abstracts can be
used to review what the students have read, or to prepare the students for what they will
read. Hand the abstracts out in class as a study guide, or use them as a "key" for a
class discussion. They are relatively brief, but can serve to be an excellent refresher of
A Simple Plan: A Novel for either a student or teacher.

Character and Object Descriptions

Character and Object Descriptions provide descriptions of the significant characters as

well as objects and places in A Simple Plan: A Novel. These can be printed out and
used as an individual study guide for students, a "key" for leading a class discussion, a
summary review prior to exams, or a refresher for an educator. The character and
object descriptions are also used in some of the quizzes and tests in this lesson plan.
The longest descriptions run about 200 words. They become shorter as the importance
of the character or object declines.

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Daily Lessons

This section of the lesson plan contains 30 Daily Lessons. Daily Lessons each have a
specific objective and offer at least three (often more) ways to teach that objective.
Lessons include classroom discussions, group and partner activities, in-class handouts,
individual writing assignments, at least one homework assignment, class participation
exercises and other ways to teach students about A Simple Plan: A Novel in a
classroom setting. You can combine daily lessons or use the ideas within them to create
your own unique curriculum. They vary greatly from day to day and offer an array of
creative ideas that provide many options for an educator.

Fun Classroom Activities

Fun Classroom Activities differ from Daily Lessons because they make "fun" a priority.
The 20 enjoyable, interactive classroom activities that are included will help students
understand A Simple Plan: A Novel in fun and entertaining ways. Fun Classroom
Activities include group projects, games, critical thinking activities, brainstorming
sessions, writing poems, drawing or sketching, and countless other creative exercises.
Many of the activities encourage students to interact with each other, be creative and
think "outside of the box," and ultimately grasp key concepts from the text by "doing"
rather than simply studying. Fun activities are a great way to keep students interested
and engaged while still providing a deeper understanding of A Simple Plan: A Novel and
its themes.

Essay Questions/Writing Assignments

These 20 Essay Questions/Writing Assignments can be used as essay questions on a

test, or as stand-alone essay topics for a take-home or in-class writing assignment on A
Simple Plan: A Novel. Students should have a full understanding of the unit material in
order to answer these questions. They often include multiple parts of the work and ask
for a thorough analysis of the overall text. They nearly always require a substantial
response. Essay responses are typically expected to be one (or more) page(s) and
consist of multiple paragraphs, although it is possible to write answers more briefly.
These essays are designed to challenge a student's understanding of the broad points
in a work, interactions among the characters, and main points and themes of the text.
But, they also cover many of the other issues specific to the work and to the world
today.

Short Essay Questions

The 60 Short Essay Questions listed in this section require a one to two sentence
answer. They ask students to demonstrate a deeper understanding of A Simple Plan: A
Novel by describing what they've read, rather than just recalling it. The short essay
questions evaluate not only whether students have read the material, but also how well
they understand and can apply it. They require more thought than multiple choice
questions, but are shorter than the essay questions.

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Multiple Choice Questions

The 180 Multiple Choice Questions in this lesson plan will test a student's recall and
understanding of A Simple Plan: A Novel. Use these questions for quizzes, homework
assignments or tests. The questions are broken out into sections, so they focus on
specific chapters within A Simple Plan: A Novel. This allows you to test and review the
book as you proceed through the unit. Typically, there are 5-15 questions per chapter,
act or section.

Evaluation Forms

Use the Oral Reading Evaluation Form when students are reading aloud in class. Pass
the forms out before you assign reading, so students will know what to expect. You can
use the forms to provide general feedback on audibility, pronunciation, articulation,
expression and rate of speech. You can use this form to grade students, or simply
comment on their progress.

Use the Writing Evaluation Form when you're grading student essays. This will help you
establish uniform criteria for grading essays even though students may be writing about
different aspects of the material. By following this form you will be able to evaluate the
thesis, organization, supporting arguments, paragraph transitions, grammar, spelling,
punctuation, etc. of each student's essay.

Quizzes/Homework Assignments

The Quizzes/Homework Assignments are worksheets that can be used in a variety of

ways. They pull questions from the multiple choice and short essay sections, the
character and object descriptions, and the chapter abstracts to create worksheets that
can be used for pop quizzes, in-class assignments and homework. Periodic homework
assignments and quizzes are a great way to encourage students to stay on top of their
assigned reading. They can also help you determine which concepts and ideas your
class grasps and which they need more guidance on. By pulling from the different
sections of the lesson plan, quizzes and homework assignments offer a comprehensive
review of A Simple Plan: A Novel in manageable increments that are less substantial
than a full blown test.

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Tests

Use the Test Summary page to determine which pre-made test is most relevant to your
students' learning styles. This lesson plan provides both full unit tests and mid-unit tests.
You can choose from several tests that include differing combinations of multiple choice
questions, short answer questions, short essay questions, full essay questions,
character and object matching, etc. Some of the tests are designed to be more difficult
than others. Some have essay questions, while others are limited to short-response
questions, like multiple choice, matching and short answer questions. If you don't find
the combination of questions that best suits your class, you can also create your own
test on A Simple Plan: A Novel.

8
Lesson Calendar
Definitions

 Review Chapter Abstracts: Chapter abstracts are synopses of each chapter

that you can use to review the reading assignments with your students.
 Daily Lessons: There are 30 daily lessons detailed in this lesson plan. Select a
new daily lesson for each day.
 Fun Activities: There are 20 fun activities in this lesson plan. They serve as a
way for students to interact with the material in an enjoyable, educational way.
 Read Aloud in Class: Ask students to take turns reading aloud from where they
left off in their most recent reading assignment. Use the Oral Reading Evaluation
Form in this lesson plan to evaluate their reading skills.
 In-Class Handout: An in-class handout can be one of the quizzes/homework
assignments, vocabulary games, worksheets, or an essay/writing assignment. It's
something the students can complete and turn in during class, or begin in-class
and take home to finish as a homework assignment.

One Week Lesson Calendar

Before the unit begins:

 Homework Assignment: Read through Chapters Three and Four

Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Quiz Day 4 - Day 5 - Test
Introduce Unit Review Unit Review Unit

Review Review Review Review Test

Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter
Abstracts up to Abstracts up to Abstracts up to Abstracts up to
Chapters Chapters Five Chapters Nine Chapters
Three and Four and Six and Ten Eleven and
Twelve
1 Lesson from 1 Lesson from Quiz
Daily Lessons Daily Lessons 1 Lesson from
1-8 9-15 1 Lesson from Daily Lessons
Daily Lessons 24-30
1 Fun Activity 1 In-Class 16-23
from Fun Handout 1 In-Class
Activities 1-10 1 In-Class Handout
Homework Handout
Students Read Assignment: Homework
Aloud in Class Read through 1 Fun Activity Assignment:
Chapters Nine from Fun Study for the
Homework and Ten and Activities 11-20 test
Assignment: choose a
Homework

9
Read through homework Assignment:
Chapters Five assignment Read through
and Six from one of the Chapters
Daily Lessons Eleven and
Twelve and
assign an
essay, due the
week following
the test

Two Week Lesson Calendar

Before the unit begins:

 Homework Assignment: Read through Chapters One and Two

Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Quiz
Introduce Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit

Review Review 1 Lesson from Review Review

Chapter Chapter Daily Lessons Chapter Chapter
Abstracts up to Abstracts up to 9-12 Abstracts up to Abstracts up to
Chapters One Chapters Chapters Five Chapters
and Two Three and Four 1 In-Class and Six Seven and
Handout Eight
1 Lesson from 1 Lesson from 1 Lesson from
Daily Lessons Daily Lessons Homework Daily Lessons Quiz
1-4 5-8 Assignment: 13-15
Read through Homework
Students Read 1 Fun Activity Chapters Five 1 Fun Activity Assignment:
Aloud in Class from Fun and Six from Fun Assign an
Activities 1-5 Activities 6-10 essay, due the
Homework week following
Assignment: Review for the the final test
Read through quiz
Chapters
Three and Four Homework
Assignment:
Read through
Chapters
Seven and
Eight and study
for the quiz
Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9 - Day 10 - Final
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Test

1 Lesson from Review Review 1 Lesson from Test

10
Daily Lessons Chapter Chapter Daily Lessons
16-19 Abstracts up to Abstracts up to 28-30
Chapters Nine Chapters
1 Fun Activity and Ten Eleven and 1 In-Class
from Fun Twelve Handout
Activities 11-15 1 Lesson from
Daily Lessons 1 Lesson from Review for the
Homework 20-23 Daily Lessons test
Assignment: 24-27
Read through 1 In-Class Homework
Chapters Nine Handout 1 In-Class Assignment:
and Ten and Handout Study for the
choose a Students Read test
homework Aloud in Class 1 Fun Activity
assignment from Fun
from one of the Homework Activities 16-20
Daily Lessons Assignment:
Read through
Chapters
Eleven and
Twelve and
choose a
homework
assignment
from one of the
Daily Lessons

Four Week Lesson Calendar

Before the unit begins:

 Homework Assignment: Read through Chapters One and Two

Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Quiz
Introduce Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit

Review 1 Lesson from Review Review Quiz

Chapter Daily Lessons Homework Chapter
Abstracts up to 1-2 Abstracts up to 1 Lesson from
Chapters One 1 Lesson from Chapters Daily Lessons
and Two 1 In-Class Daily Lessons Three and Four 7-8
Handout 3-4
Students Read Review Students Read
Aloud in Class Homework 1 Fun Activity Homework Aloud in Class
Assignment: from Fun
Choose from Activities 1-3 1 Lesson from Homework
one of the Daily Lessons Assignment:

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 Daily Lessons Homework 5-6 Choose from
Assignment: one of the
Read through 1 Fun Activity Daily Lessons
Chapters from Fun
Three and Four Activities 4-5
and choose a
homework 1 In-Class
assignment Handout
from one of the
Daily Lessons
Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9 - Day 10 - Mid
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Unit Test

Review Review Review Review Review

Homework Chapter Homework Homework Chapter
Abstracts up to Abstracts up to
Daily Lesson 9 Chapters Five 1 Lesson from 1 Lesson from Chapters
and Six Daily Lessons Daily Lessons Seven and
1 Fun Activity 12-13 14-15 Eight
from Fun Review
Activities 6-7 Homework 1 Fun Activity 1 In-Class Test
from Fun Handout
Homework 1 Lesson from Activities 8-9 Homework
Assignment: Daily Lessons Review for the Assignment:
Read through 10-11 Homework test Assign an
Chapters Five Assignment: essay, due the
and Six and 1 In-Class Choose from Homework week following
choose a Handout one of the Assignment: the final test
homework Daily Lessons Read through
assignment Students Read Chapters
from one of the Aloud in Class Seven and
Daily Lessons Eight and study
Homework for the test
Assignment:
Choose from
one of the
Daily Lessons
Day 11 - Day 12 - Day 13 - Day 14 - Day 15 - Quiz
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit

Review the test 1 Lesson from Review Review Quiz

Daily Lessons Chapter Homework
Daily Lesson 17-18 Abstracts up to Daily Lesson
16 Chapters Nine 1 Lesson from 23
1 Fun Activity and Ten Daily Lessons
Students Read from Fun 21-22 Students Read

12
Aloud in Class Activities 10-12 Review 1 Fun Activity Aloud in Class
Homework from Fun
Homework Activities 13-14 1 Fun Activity
Assignment: 1 Lesson from from Fun
Read through Daily Lessons Homework Activities 15-16
Chapters Nine 19-20 Assignment:
and Ten and Choose from Homework
choose a 1 In-Class one of the Assignment:
homework Handout Daily Lessons Read through
assignment Chapters
from one of the Homework Eleven and
Daily Lessons Assignment: Twelve and
Choose from choose a
one of the homework
Daily Lessons assignment
from one of the
Daily Lessons
Day 16 - Day 17 - Day 18 - Day 19 - Day 20 - Final
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Test

Review Review Review Daily Lesson Test

Chapter Homework Homework 30
Abstracts up to
Chapters 1 Lesson from 1 Lesson from 1 In-Class
Eleven and Daily Lessons Daily Lessons Handout
Twelve 26-27 28-29
Homework
Review 1 In-Class 1 In-Class Assignment:
Homework Handout Handout Study for the
test
1 Lesson from Students Read 1 Fun Activity
Daily Lessons Aloud in Class from Fun
24-25 Activities 19-20
Homework
1 Fun Activity Assignment:
from Fun Choose from
Activities 17-18 one of the
Daily Lessons
Homework
Assignment:
Choose from
one of the
Daily Lessons

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Eight Week Lesson Calendar

Before the unit begins:

 Homework Assignment: Read through Chapters One and Two

Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Quiz
Introduce Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit

Review Daily Lesson 1 Review Review Quiz

Chapter Homework Homework
Abstracts up to 1 In-Class Fun Activity 2
Chapters One Handout Daily Lesson 2 Daily Lesson 3
and Two Students Read
Homework Fun Activity 1 1 In-Class Aloud in Class
Students Read Assignment: Handout
Aloud in Class Complete the Homework Homework
Daily Lesson Assignment: Assignment:
Complete the Read through
Daily Lesson Chapters
Three and Four
Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Quiz Day 9 - Day 10 -
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit

Review Review Quiz Review Fun Activity 5

Chapter Homework Homework
Abstracts up to Review 1 In-Class
Chapters Daily Lesson 5 Homework Daily Lesson 7 Handout
Three and Four
1 In-Class Daily Lesson 6 Fun Activity 4
Daily Lesson 4 Handout
Students Read 1 In-Class
Fun Activity 3 Students Read Aloud in Class Handout
Aloud in Class
Homework Homework
Assignment: Homework Assignment:
Complete the Assignment: Complete the
Daily Lesson Complete the Daily Lesson
Daily Lesson
Day 11 - Day 12 - Quiz Day 13 - Day 14 - Day 15 - Quiz
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit

Daily Lesson 8 Review Review Review Quiz

Chapter Homework Homework
Students Read Abstracts up to Students Read
Aloud in Class Chapters Five Daily Lesson Daily Lesson Aloud in Class
and Six 10 11
Homework Fun Activity 8

14
Assignment: Quiz 1 In-Class Fun Activity 7 Homework
Read through Handout Assignment:
Chapters Five Daily Lesson 9 Homework Complete the
and Six and Homework Assignment: Daily Lesson
study for the Fun Activity 6 Assignment: Complete the
quiz Complete the Daily Lesson
Homework Daily Lesson
Assignment:
Complete the
Daily Lesson
Day 16 - Day 17 - Day 18 - Day 19 - Day 20 - Mid
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Unit Test

Daily Lesson Review Review Review Test

12 Homework Chapter Homework
Abstracts up to Homework
Fun Activity 9 Daily Lesson Chapters 1 In-Class Assignment:
13 Seven and Handout Assign an
Homework Eight essay, due on
Assignment: 1 In-Class Review for the day 38
Complete the Handout Review test
Daily Lesson Homework
Students Read Homework
Aloud in Class Daily Lesson Assignment:
14 Study for the
Homework test
Assignment: 1 In-Class
Read through Handout
Chapters
Seven and Fun Activity 10
Eight
Homework
Assignment:
Complete the
Daily Lesson
Day 21 - Day 22 - Day 23 - Day 24 - Day 25 - Quiz
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit

Daily Lesson Daily Lesson Review Review Quiz

15 16 Homework Homework
Daily Lesson
Review the test 1 In-Class Daily Lesson Fun Activity 12 18
Handout 17
Fun Activity 13
Homework Fun Activity 11
Assignment: Homework
Complete the Homework Assignment:

15
 Daily Lesson Assignment: Read through
Complete the Chapters Nine
Daily Lesson and Ten and
complete the
Daily Lesson
Day 26 - Day 27 - Day 28 - Day 29 - Day 30 - Mid
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Unit Test

Review Review Review Review Quiz

Chapter Homework Homework Homework
Abstracts up to Fun Activity 15
Chapters Nine Daily Lesson Daily Lesson Daily Lesson
and Ten 20 21 22

Review 1 In-Class Fun Activity 14 1 In-Class

Homework Handout Handout
Homework
Daily Lesson Students Read Assignment: Homework
19 Aloud in Class Complete the Assignment:
Daily Lesson Study for the
Homework Homework quiz
Assignment: Assignment:
Complete the Complete the
Daily Lesson Daily Lesson
Day 31 - Day 32 - Day 33 - Day 34 - Day 35 - Quiz
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit

Daily Lesson Review Review Review Quiz

23 Chapter Homework Homework
Abstracts up to Students Read
Students Read Chapters Daily Lesson Daily Lesson Aloud in Class
Aloud in Class Eleven and 25 26
Twelve Daily Lesson
Homework 1 In-Class Fun Activity 17 27
Assignment: Daily Lesson Handout
Read through 24 Fun Activity 18
Chapters Homework
Eleven and Fun Activity 16 Assignment: Homework
Twelve Complete the Assignment:
Homework Daily Lesson Complete the
Assignment: Daily Lesson
Complete the
Daily Lesson
Day 36 - Day 37 - Day 38 - Day 39 - Day 40 - Final
Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Review Unit Test

16
Review 1 In-Class Collect essay Review Test
Homework Handout assignments Homework

Daily Lesson Homework Daily Lesson Daily Lesson

28 Assignment: 29 30
Finish the
Fun Activity 19 essay Fun Activity 20 1 In-Class
Handout
Homework Homework
Assignment: Assignment: Review for the
Complete the Complete the test
Daily Lesson Daily Lesson

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Chapter Abstracts
Chapters One and Two
• Hank Mitchell's parents were killed in an auto accident the year after Hank married.

• Hank's wife, Sarah, believes that the wreck wasn't an accident but was Hank's father's
way of escaping the enormous debts they'd accumulated.

• Hank's older brother Jacob lives in Ashenville, Ohio, in an apartment over a hardware
store.
• Jacob is driving when they crash into a snow bank, and the dog Mary Beth rushes off
in pursuit of a fox that crossed the road directly in front of them into Anders Nature
Preserve.

• Jacob, Hank, and Lou top the rim of a shallow dip and find a plane there. Jacob and
Lou goad Hank into going inside the plane to check on the pilot.

• Jacob finds that the pilot is dead and that the man's eyes have been pecked out and
flesh eaten from his face.

• Hank pushes his way back out of the plane along with a large duffel bag. Lou opens
the bag and finds that it's filled with neat stacks of money.
• There's an immediate question of how to handle the money with Hank serving as the
voice of reason.

• Hank says that someone has to know about the money and is searching for it. Lou
says that if someone were looking for it, the story would have been on the news.

• Lou turns to Hank, as the accountant, to guess how much money is in the bag. He
places it at about three million dollars.

• Hank comes to a decision and says that he'll keep the money for six months and that if
no one comes for it by then, the three will split the money evenly between them.
• In Chapter Two, the men return to Jacob's truck where they plan to count the money.

• The men are mesmerized by the sight of the money that spills from the bag so that
they don't notice the sheriff's truck pulling up.

• Hank instinctively covers the money from the sight of Carl Jenkins, the town's police
officer for more than forty years who was known as "sheriff."
• As the three men drive slowly away from their encounter with Carl, Hank says that he
will burn the money if there's any indication that he's going to be caught as an
accomplice to the theft.

• The three men make forty-four stacks of bills that equal $4.4 million.

18
• As Jacob drops Hank at his own home, Hank warns Jacob against getting drunk and
urges him to be responsible for Lou's behavior so that neither of them lets out some
detail.

• Hank enters his house, leaving the money in a closet.

Chapters Three and Four

• Hank wakes the next morning to hear Sarah in the shower; Hank goes to the shower,
discovers there are no towels, and returns to the bedroom to find Sarah on the floor with
the money.

• Hank calls Jacob to say that they have to return to the plane to be certain they didn't
overlook anything.

• Hank hides the money he plans to leave in the plane inside a garbage bag inside a
baby carryall having decided that Jacob can't know for fear that he or Lou will return to
the plane and get the money.
• Hank has been concerned about keeping the fact that he's leaving money from Jacob
and now sees a way around this.

• Hank shoves the garbage bag full of money under the pilot's feet toward the nose of
the plane.

• Hank heads back to the road and sees Jacob standing outside the car, talking to
someone on a snowmobile and gesturing wildly.

• As Hank approaches, trying to seem calm and in control, he sees Jacob suddenly
swing out wildly at Mr. Penderson, striking him on the side of the head.

• Jacob says that Penderson was searching for the fox that had been taking his
chickens.
• Hank quickly responds, saying that they'll make Penderson's death look like an
accident by running his snowmobile off the bridge into the frozen creek below.

• After Jacob is gone, Hank discovers that Penderson is alive and hesitates only a
moment before smothering the man with his own scarf.

• Jacob returns and picks up Hank. Hank notes the mess of tracks on the road as they
pass the scene of the crime.

• Jacob is crying about having killed Penderson, and Hank finally tells Jacob that
Penderson wasn't dead when Jacob left and that he had killed him.
• In Chapter Four, Hank watches from his office as Penderson's funeral procession goes
into the cemetery at St. Jude's Episcopal Church and the mourners disperse.

19
• Sarah says that she believes they will get caught and suggests again that they burn
the money, but Hank refuses.

• Jacob comes to ask Hank to go somewhere with him. Hank agrees, and Jacob drives
to the old farm place, their childhood home.
• That night, Lou arrives at Hank's house and seems to try to break in though Hank has
been watching since the car pulled into the drive.

• Lou insists that the split the money immediately. When Hank balks, Lou says that he
plans to tell the police about Penderson's death unless Hank gives him his share of the
money.

• Upstairs, Sarah tells Hank that he should turn Jacob in and claim that Jacob alone
killed Penderson.

• On January 28, Sarah goes into labor and gives birth to a baby girl.

Chapters Five and Six

• Sarah and baby Amanda come home four days after the birth, and Jacob arrives that
same day with a gift - a musical teddy bear.

• Jacob asks to borrow a hundred and fifty dollars for his rent, saying that he hoped
Hank could simply take it from his share of the money.

• Sarah says that Lou will never stop hounding them about Penderson and predicts that
he'll spend all his own money and then blackmail Hank and Jacob.

• Sarah says that Hank should get Lou to somehow say that he killed Penderson, tape
this false confession, and use it to control Lou.
• Hank buys a small tape recorder and goes with Jacob go to visit their parents' grave,
having not gotten around to it on the day they were supposed to have gone in
December.

• In the cemetery, Hank tells Jacob of his plan to take Lou out drinking and to trick him
into confessing to the murder.

• Before going to bed, Jacob tells Hank he'll help with Lou if Hank will help Jacob secure
the farm for his own.
• In Chapter Six, Lou agrees to go out with Hank and Jacob, and they go to the
Wrangler.

• While Jacob is gone to the bar for another round of drinks, Hank asks Lou why he
couldn't have waited just a few more months for the money.

• Lou says that he is some seventeen thousand in debt and that he's spent Nancy's
savings.

20
• Hank then tells Lou that they're not going to split up the money until summer, as they'd
planned, and shows Lou the tape, explaining why he'd made it and what he would do
with it.
• Hank and Jacob start to leave, but Lou suddenly rushes out of the room and returns
with a shotgun.

• The two friends square off, and Nancy comes downstairs and tries to convince Lou to
put down his weapon.

• Just then there's an explosion, and Lou is suddenly gone from Hank's sight, blown
back through the door by Jacob's shot.

• Nancy begins screaming, and Hank tells her that there is a way to arrange things so
that the money isn't lost.
• When Sonny arrives, Hank forces him to take off all his clothes and go inside the
house.

• Hank shoots Sonny and then fires the gun a number of times around the house,
making it appear that Lou had gone crazy with the gun after finding the two in bed
together.

• Hank goes inside to use the bathroom, then drives to Sonny's and turns off all the
lights.

Chapters Seven and Eight

• Hank and Sarah are at Delphia Medical Center where Jacob undergoes extensive
surgery.

• Sheriff Carl follows Hank, asking him some general questions, including what the three
of them were doing near the preserve that day he encountered them.
• In Chapter Eight, Hank attends the funerals of Nancy, Sonny, Lou, and then Jacob.

• Hank is forced by the landlord to clear Jacob's possessions out of his apartment.
• Hank sells Jacob's truck to the feed store, and he sees it every day when he goes to
work.

• One day Carl comes into the store and asks Hank if he'd consider selling Jacob's rifle.

• Carl offers Hank four hundred dollars, and Hank says he'll take three.
• Hank comes home from work one day to find newspaper clippings describing the
kidnapping of a seventeen-year-old named Alice McMartin.

• The kidnappers had disguised themselves as police, had killed six people at the house
during the kidnapping, and had demanded $4.8 million.

21
• The final article provided potential identities of the kidnappers, Vernon Bokovsky and
Stephen Bokovsky.
• For Sarah's birthday, Hank buys a baby grand piano. Sarah doesn't know how to play,
and the piano dwarfs their living room.

• Hank soon learns that the auction had been a scam and that he'd lost the thirty-one
thousand dollars he'd paid for the condominium.

• Hank begins to second-guess the entire situation and tells Sarah that he plans to rent
a blowtorch and cut the plane into pieces, burying the pieces.

Chapters Nine and Ten

• The weather turns again, and it begins to snow so that the outlines of the graves
across the street from Hank's office are obliterated.

• Carl phones and asks Hank to come by his office. Hank does so, and Carl introduces
him to a man identified as Agent Neal Baxter of the FBI.

• Hank has the impression that Baxter reminds him of someone, but the resemblance is
so vague that Hank can't remember whom.
• Baxter says that he's searching for an airplane that might have gone down somewhere
in the area and that Carl had recalled Jacob's story about hearing the plane.

• Baxter says that some men robbed an armored car at the Chicago Federal Reserve
Bank and that the case had gone cold until one of the men recently raped a girlfriend.

• Carl says that they want Hank to take them to the exact place he heard the plane, and
they make plans to go the following day at nine o'clock in the morning.
• Hank goes home and tells Sarah about the conversation, but Sarah is immediately
suspicious, saying that the kidnapping made sense but that this story simply doesn't.

• Hank says that if he's going to take Baxter to the plane, he has to return the money.
Sarah says that they can't after all that's happened.
• Sarah says that if the agent is Vernon Bokovsky, he and Carl are the only threats to
Hank having the money.

• Sarah says that she's not asking Hank to murder Carl and that remaining away while
Carl goes with Vernon is the best course of action.

• In the middle of the night, Hank briefly realizes that the simplest action for him now
would be to take the money and leave everything - including Sarah and Amanda -
behind.
• In Chapter Ten, Hank arrives early at Carl's office and tells him that he's going to have
to put Jacob's dog down and asks to borrow a gun for the chore.

22
• At his office, Hank calls Sarah who has been on the phone with the FBI to check for
agent Baxter.

• Hank calls Carl, saying that Amanda is throwing up and that he has to go home.

• Hank later receives a call from Fulton County Sheriff McKellroy who says that Carl has
been murdered and that Hank is needed to identify the man who left with Carl.

Chapters Eleven and Twelve

• Hank meets Sheriff McKellroy in town and an officer named Collins takes his
statement.

• Hank says that he was supposed to go with Carl and the FBI agent named Neal
Baxter to the scene where he'd heard the engine but had been called home, and that
he'd watched the two of them drive off together.
• Hank is accompanied by two officers to the scene of Baxter's body at a tollbooth on
the Ohio Turnpike.

• Then FBI agents who are really agents arrive, and Hank is once again worried that
he's overlooked something.

• Hank talks, telling the story he's now come to know so well, and the agents merely sit
and listen without interrupting.
• When Hank asks if there is 4.8 million dollars in the bag, the agent says that there is
only 500,000 dollars and that the rest of the money is missing.

• Hank, now with the realization that the money is essentially marked and useless, calls
Sarah who says that she's bought some champagne with one of the bills.

• Hank asks where she spent the money, and Sarah says that it was at a liquor store
named Alexander's near the airport.
• Hank calls the police, saying that he'd encountered a young man hitchhiking earlier in
the day and had come to think that the young man might be dangerous.

• Hank then drives to Alexander's, opens the trunk from Jacob's apartment and retrieves
a ski mask, oversized sweatshirt, and the machete, slipping the machete up his sleeve.

• The clerk tells Hank that he's going to give him one opportunity to leave without a fight.
Hank insists that the man open the cash drawer. The man goes to the door and locks it.
• Hank and the man fight. When Hank knocks over a display of wine, the man picks up a
broken bottleneck as a weapon.

• Hank finally strikes the man on the neck. The man falls to the floor, very
melodramatically, and then dies.

23
• Hank arrives home and tells Sarah about the events. Sarah begins to argue against
burning the money. In the end they do burn it, and the burning takes a long time.

• The things Hank took from the liquor store murders in order to make it appear as a
robbery remain in the trunk in their attic.

24
Character Descriptions
Hank Mitchell
This character is an accountant who is self-centered and seems to believe himself
superior in many ways to others, including his brother.

Sarah Mitchell
This character has a degree in petroleum engineering but works as a part-time librarian
until her daughter is born.

Jacob Mitchell
This older brother of the protagonist is overweight and holds only seasonal or part-time
jobs.

Lou
This character begins pushing to distribute the money earlier than had been originally
agreed, going so far as to threaten the protagonist.

Carl Jenkins
This police officer in Ashenville, Ohio, is shot and killed by the kidnapper who is posing
as an FBI agent.

Nancy
This character comes running down the stairs when she hears her boyfriend being shot.

Sonny
This landlord arrives at his tenant's house at the protagonist's request and soon realizes
that he's in trouble.

Jacob Hansel Mitchell

This character kills himself and his wife as the only way he can see to escape the debts
that are threatening foreclosure on his farm.

25
Josephine McDonnell Mitchell
This character, who is the mother of the protagonist, lives two days after a fatal car
accident.

Diana Baker
This woman comes to the liquor store while the protagonist is trying to clean up the
mess he made by murdering the clerk.

Michael Morton
This clerk at the liquor store is killed by the protagonist.

Vernon Bokovsky
This character is the older of two brothers who kidnap and kill seventeen-year-old Alice
McMartin.

Stephen Bokovshy
This is the younger of the brothers who kidnap and kill seventeen-year-old Alice
McMartin.

26
Object Descriptions
Ashenville, Ohio
This city is where Hank works and where Jacob lives.

Anders Nature Preserve

This is the location where Hank, Jacob, and Lou find the plane and the money.

Interstate 75
This location is where Hank and Jacob's parents were killed when they attempted to
enter the highway by the exit ramp.

University of Toledo
This is the college where Hank meets Sarah.

Fort Ottowa
This is the name of the subdivision where Hank and Sarah live.

Raikley's Feed Store

This business is where Hank works as an accountant.

St. Jude's Episcopal Church

This location is where Jacob and the others are buried.

The Wrangler
This is the name of the club where Hank and Jacob take Lou with the plan of getting
him drunk enough to say that he killed Penderson.

Delphia Medical Center

This location is where Jacob is taken after being shot.

27
Fort Myers, Florida
This is the location of the condominium Hank believes he is buying at the government
auction.

Alexander's
This is the location where Hank kills the clerk and a customer.

28
Daily Lessons
Lesson 1 (from Chapters One and Two)
Objective

Chapters One and Two

A Simple Plan is a suspense novel by author Scott B. Smith published in 1993. Scott
Bechtel Smith (born 1965) is an American author and screenwriter who also adapted
the screenplay for A Simple Plan (1998), which was nominated for numerous awards,
including two Academy Awards. In this lesson, students are introduced to the novel, its
author, and film adaptation.

Lesson

1) Teacher Lecture: Introduce the class to the book and author. A Simple Plan by Scott
B. Smith, published in 1993, is a psychological suspense novel exploring themes of
greed, blame and the nature of good and evil.

2) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on the author Scott Bechtel Smith. For what major works is Smith
most known? What screenplays has the author adapted and/or written?

3) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which examines and discusses the biography and works of
Scott B. Smith. When was A Simple Plan published? When did the screenplay follow?

4) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• When and where was Scott B. Smith born?

• Where did Scott B. Smith attend college?

• Where did Scott B. Smith grow up?

• For what awards was the film adaptation of A Simple Plan nominated?

• Did the novel receive any awards? What?

• What other works has Scott B. Smith written?

5) Homework: Read Chapter One.

29
Lesson 2 (from Chapters One and Two)
Objective

Chapters One and Two

Hank Mitchell, an accountant and family man, is the protagonist of A Simple Plan.
Hank's parents were killed in an auto accident the year after Hank married. In 1987,
Hank and his older brother Jacob head to the cemetery to pay respects to their parents,
accompanied by Jacob's dog and friend Lou. In this lesson, students will identify the
narrative point of view of the novel and discuss the novel's protagonist.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in identifying and analyzing the protagonist of the novel. From
whose point of view is the novel written?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which defines and discusses the narrative voice of the novel
and which analyzes Hank Mitchell as the protagonist. What character traits does Hank
embody in Chapter One?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Hank's parents were killed how long after he was married?

• In what voice and point of view is the novel written?

• How were Hank's parents killed?

• What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

• To whom had Hank's father given his pickup truck before he died?

• What is Hank Mitchell's occupation?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper describing the
character of Hank in A Simple Plan. How old is the protagonist? What is his driving
objective when the novel begins?

30
Lesson 3 (from Chapters One and Two)
Objective

Chapters One and Two

The novel A Simple Plan is set in and around a small town named Ashenville, Ohio, that
is snow-covered throughout the winter. In Chapter One, it is New Year's Eve and Jacob
is driving when his truck crashes into a snow bank and the dog Mary Beth rushes off in
pursuit of a fox that crossed the road directly in front of them into Anders Nature
Preserve. In this lesson, students will identify, analyze, and discuss the time and place
of the novel's setting.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on the setting of A Simple Plan. Where is Ashenville, Ohio
located? What is the climate like at this location? What year and month does the novel
begin?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which illustrates and analyzes the setting of the novel. What
about this snowy locale indicates a certain tone to the novel? How?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Where does the novel take place?

• Where does Hank work?

• Where does Jacob Mitchell live?

• What is Jacob's occupation?

• What month does Chapter One begin in? What year?

• Where are Hank, Lou, and Jacob going in Chapter One?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing and
describing the setting of Ashenville, Ohio, and the characters' relationship to the setting.
How does Hank feel about his hometown? Where is Sarah from?

31
Lesson 4 (from Chapters One and Two)
Objective

Chapters One and Two

As Hank, Lou, and Jacob search for the fox in Chapter One, they top the rim of a
shallow dip and find a plane there. Jacob finds that the pilot is dead and pushes his way
back out of the plane along with a large duffel bag. Lou opens the bag and finds that it's
filled with neat stacks of money. Hank comes to a decision and says that he'll keep the
money for six months and that if no one comes for it by then, the three will split the
money evenly between them. In this lesson, students will identify, analyze, and discuss
the theme of trust in the narrative.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in defining and identifying the element of theme in literature. How
is the theme of trust established in Chapter One?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which explores and illustrates the theme of trust established in
Chapter One of A Simple Plan. In what ways is this trust doubted from the beginning?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• What does Jacob's dog run in pursuit of in Chapter One?

• What does Jacob crash into in Chapter One?

• Where does Jacob's dog run after he crashes in Chapter One?

• How many bullets does Jacob put into his rifle in Chapter One?

• What strikes Hank in the forehead in its effort to escape the plane in Chapter One?

• What does Hank bring with him from the plane in Chapter One?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Two.

32
Lesson 5 (from Chapters One and Two)
Objective

Chapters One and Two

In Chapter Two, Hank, Lou, and Jacob return to Jacob's truck where they plan to count
the money. The men are mesmerized by the sight of the money that spills from the bag
so that they don't notice the sheriff's truck pulling up. Hank instinctively covers the
money from the sight of Carl Jenkins, the town's police officer for more than forty years
who is known as "Sheriff." In this lesson, students will analyze the character of Carl
Jenkins and discuss the rising action in Chapter Two.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in identifying rising action and analyzing the character of Carl
Jenkins in the narrative. What threat does Carl pose to Lou, Hank, and Jacob?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which analyzes the character of Carl and the plot structure of
Chapters One and Two in the novel. At which point does the suspense grow in the
story? Why?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• How much money does Hank estimate to be in the bag?

• What is the name of Lou's girlfriend?

• What is the name of Hank's wife?

• How long is the hike back to Hank's truck in Chapter Two?

• For how long has Carl been the town's police officer?

• Where does Hank tell Carl he was heading in Chapter Two?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Three.

33
Lesson 6 (from Chapters Three and Four)
Objective

Chapters Three and Four

In Chapter Three, the following morning Hank goes to the shower, discovers there are
no towels and returns to the bedroom to find his wife Sarah on the floor with the money.
When Hank finds Sarah, he admits to a moment of suspicion but covers it by saying that
it was only surprise at finding her there when he'd thought she was downstairs. In this
lesson, students will analyze the character of Sarah and examine her relationship with
Hank.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing the character of Sarah in the narrative. How long
have Sarah and Hank been married? Who controls the relationship?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which illustrates and analyzes the character of Sarah and her
relationship with Hank in the novel. What weight does Hank give Sarah's opinion on his
actions?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• How many months pregnant is Hank's wife?

• Where is Hank's wife when he awakens in Chapter Three?

• How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their financial
situation?

• Why does Hank return to the bedroom when he goes to take a shower in Chapter
Three?

• What does Hank find his wife doing when he returns to the bedroom in Chapter
Three?

• Why does Hank act surprised when he finds Sarah with the money in Chapter Three?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing the
relationship between Sarah and Hank in the novel and comparing the objectives and
actions of each. Why did Sarah abandon her career choice after college? What impact
has this had on their marriage?

34
Lesson 7 (from Chapters Three and Four)
Objective

Chapters Three and Four

In Chapter Three, Hank calls Jacob to say that they have to return to the plane to be
certain they didn't overlook anything and Jacob, not yet awake, reluctantly agrees. Hank
hides the money he plans to leave in the plane inside a garbage bag inside a baby
carryall, having decided that Jacob can't know for fear that he or Lou will return to the
plane and get the money. In this lesson, students will analyze the character of Jacob
and discuss his relationship with Hank.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing the character of Jacob in the narrative. How much
older is Jacob than Hank? What is their relationship like?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which analyzes the relationship between Hank and Jacob in
the novel. How are Jacob and Lou more like brothers than Jacob and Hank?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Whom does Hank call to say that they have to return to the plane to be certain they
didn't overlook anything in Chapter Three?

• In Chapter Three, Hank secrets the money he plans to leave in the plane inside what?

• How much older is Jacob than Hank?

• Who is Jacob's only friend?

• Why does Hank choose not to tell his brother he's returning money to the plane?

• What does Hank think of his brother? How does Jacob feel about Hank?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing and
analyzing the character of Jacob in A Simple Plan. What is Jacob's objective with the
money? What does he hope to do with his future after attaining his portion?

35
Lesson 8 (from Chapters Three and Four)
Objective

Chapters Three and Four

When they arrive at the plane site in Chapter Three, Hank allows Jacob to stay in the
car, avoiding the problem of keeping his true purpose hidden. When he returns to the
car, Hank sees Jacob argue with Dwight Penderson and strike him on the head. Hank
quickly responds, saying that they'll make Penderson's death look like an accident by
running his snowmobile off the bridge. In this lesson, students will identify, analyze, and
discuss conflict in the narrative and the murder of Mr. Penderson.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing the character of Dwight Penderson in the narrative
and his role in the plot of the novel. Why did Penderson approach Jacob?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which analyzes and discusses the element of conflict in
literature and how this applies to Dwight Penderson. How does Penderson's murder
complicate the actions and objectives of Hank and Jacob?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Who remains in the car while Hank hikes to the plane in Chapter Three?

• Where does Hank stuff the money in the plane in Chapter Three?

• When Hank returns to the car, who does he see on a snowmobile in Chapter Three?

• Who strikes the man on the snowmobile in Chapter Three?

• What was the man on the snowmobile searching for in Chapter Three?

• How does Hank intend to make Jacob's murder look like an accident in Chapter
Three?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Four.

36
Lesson 9 (from Chapters Three and Four)
Objective

Chapters Three and Four

In Chapter Four, Hank watches from his office as Penderson's funeral procession goes
into the cemetery at St. Jude's Episcopal Church. As the funeral ends, Sarah arrives,
saying that she met Nancy in the grocery store and that Nancy had made a barely-
concealed comment about the money. In this lesson, students will analyze the
characters of Lou and Nancy and discuss the objectives and actions of Hank and Sarah
in Chapter Four.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on the character actions and objectives of each major player in
the novel. What is the threat of Nancy knowing about the money? How does this impact
Sarah's objectives?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which analyzes the characters of Lou and Nancy in the novel
and examines the actions and objectives of Nancy, Lou, Sarah, Hank and Jacob. What
does each character want from the other?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Where is Penderson buried in Chapter Four?

• Whom does Sarah say she ran into at the supermarket in Chapter Four?

• Who does Hank say murdered Penderson in Chapter Four?

• What does Sarah suggest they do with the money in Chapter Four?

• Where does Nancy live?

• Why does Sarah suspect Nancy knows about the money?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing the threat
that Lou and Nancy pose in the objectives of Sarah and Hank in the novel. Why do the
characters not discuss their concerns with one another? How does this relate to the
novel's themes?

37
Lesson 10 (from Chapters Three and Four)
Objective

Chapters Three and Four

As Chapter Four continues, Jacob drives Hank to the old farm place, their childhood
home. Jacob says he plans to buy back the land and build the house, barn, and silos
back as they were. Hank says they all have to leave the country to keep from prompting
questions about the source of the money, but Jacob says that he plans to tell everyone
that Sarah inherited a large sum and that she and Hank had loaned him the money for a
farm. In this lesson, students will analyze the symbolism of the farm in the narrative and
discuss Jacob's actions and objectives in Chapter Four.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on the element of symbolism in literature. What symbolic
elements have been illustrated in A Simple Plan? What does the farm symbolize?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which illustrates, explores and analyzes the symbolism in A
Simple Plan. What does the farm symbolize to Hank? How is this different from its
symbolism to Jacob?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Jacob appears at the feed store demanding that the clerk do what in Chapter Four?

• Hank reminds Jacob that he's responsible for whose actions in Chapter Four?

• What does Sarah respond when Hank asks her if his actions scare her in Chapter
Four?

• Where does Jacob take Hank in Chapter Four?

• What does Jacob tell Hank he intends to buy in Chapter Four?

• What does Hank tell Jacob they will have to do to keep from prompting questions
about the source of the money in Chapter Four?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Five.

38
Lesson 11 (from Chapters Five and Six)
Objective

Chapters Five and Six

In Chapter Five, Sarah and the baby, Amanda, come home four days after the birth.
Jacob arrives that same day with a gift - a musical teddy bear. Sarah removes the
wrapping from the bear and says that it's used. Hank realizes that the bear was Jacob's
own, and that it plays "Frere Jacques." In this lesson, students will identify, analyze, and
discuss the theme of family in the narrative.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing the theme of family in the novel. How does Jacob's
bear represent family symbolically in Chapter Five?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which explores, analyzes and discusses the theme of family in
the novel. What symbols of family are illustrated in the text? How do they relate to the
relationship between Jacob and Hank?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• What is the name of Hank's baby in Chapter Five?

• Sarah and the baby return home after how many days in the hospital?

• What gift does Jacob bring Sarah and the baby in Chapter Five?

• How much money does Jacob ask to borrow for his rent in Chapter Five?

• What song does Jacob's gift to Sarah and the baby play in Chapter Five?

• What elements of symbolism reinforce the theme of family in the narrative?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper analyzing how the
theme of family in the novel relates to the theme of trust. How does Hank feel about his
brother in comparison to his feelings toward his wife and daughter?

39
Lesson 12 (from Chapters Five and Six)
Objective

Chapters Five and Six

As Chapter Five continues, Sarah says that she had time in the hospital to consider the
situation and that she's come up with a plan. Sarah says that Hank should get Lou to
somehow say that he killed Penderson, tape this false confession, and use it to control
Lou. Hank buys a small tape recorder and feels comfortable that the idea will work. In
this lesson, students will analyze and discuss Hank and Sarah's plans for Lou in
Chapter Five.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on the plot which Sarah develops for Lou in Chapter Five. What
might go wrong with this plan?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which analyzes and discusses Sarah's plan for Lou in Chapter
Five. Why does Sarah believe Lou will remain a problem even after the money is
dispersed?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Who is Lou's landlord?

• Who suggests that Hank should get Lou to confess to Penderson's murder in Chapter
Five?

• What does Jacob say he believes their parents did to escape their debts?

• What beverage do Hank and Jacob overindulge on in Chapter Five?

• In Chapter Five, Jacob tells Hank he'll help with Lou if Hank will help Jacob do what?

• What board game do Hank and Jacob play in Chapter Five?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Six.

40
Lesson 13 (from Chapters Five and Six)
Objective

Chapters Five and Six

In Chapter Six, Lou agrees to go out with Hank and Jacob and they go to the Wrangler.
Lou tells Hank that he is some $17,000 in debt, and that he's spent Nancy's savings.
When Lou is well on his way to being very drunk, Hank tells Jacob to judge when it's
time to leave and that Lou can't be so drunk that he'll slur his words for the taped
confession. In this lesson, students will identify, analyze, and discuss Hank's plot for Lou
in Chapter Six.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing Hank, Lou and Jacob's actions and objectives in
taking Lou to Wrangler's in Chapter Six. What does Hank hope will come of the setup?
What does Jacob?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which examines and analyzes the plot which Hank and Jacob
set up against Lou in Chapter Six. What are potential fallouts for their plan?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• What bar do Hank, Lou and Jacob go to in Chapter Six?

• How much debt does Lou tell Hank he has in Chapter Six?

• Whose savings does Lou say he's spent in Chapter Six?

• Where do Hank, Lou and Jacob go after leaving the bar in Chapter Six?

• What does Hank offer to drink when leaving the bar?

• Why does Lou almost get into a fight at the Wrangler?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing Jacob's role
in setting up Lou in Chapter Six. What internal conflicts does Jacob face in this
scenario? Why? Whom does he choose in the end?

41
Lesson 14 (from Chapters Five and Six)
Objective

Chapters Five and Six

Hank, Jacob and Lou leave the Wrangler and go to Lou's house where they continue to
drink. Hank eventually asks Lou what he thinks Hank might have said if he had gone to
the sheriff and confessed to murdering Penderson. Hank then tells Lou that they're not
going to split up the money until summer, as they'd planned, and shows Lou the tape,
explaining why he'd made it and what he would do with it. In this lesson, students will
identify, analyze, and discuss the conflicts and actions between Hank, Lou and Jacob in
Chapter Six.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing the actions, objectives, and conflicts between Lou,
Hank and Jacob in Chapter Six. How is this chapter a culmination of the tension
between the three?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which illustrates the essential conflict facing Hank and Jacob
in Chapter Six. How aware is Lou that he's being set up? What is his reaction?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Who does Jacob offer to play the role of when he and Hank record Lou's confession in
Chapter Six?

• Hank tells Lou they aren't going to divide the money until when in Chapter Six?

• Whom does Lou point a shotgun at in Chapter Six?

• What is Lou's objective in the narrative? How does this conflict with Hank?

• What is Hank's objective in Chapter Six?

• Why do things not go as planned in the chapter?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing the role of
Nancy in the narrative and conflicts of the novel. How much control over Lou does
Nancy have? How is their relationship compared to that of Hank and Sarah?

42
Lesson 15 (from Chapters Five and Six)
Objective

Chapters Five and Six

As the argument between Hank and Lou escalates in Chapter Six, the plot progresses
toward its climax and Lou, Nancy, Sonny and Jacob are all shot by the end of the
chapter. It's evident that Lou and Hank have been pitted against each other since the
discovery of the money and equally as obvious that Jacob feels torn by his friendship for
Lou weighed against his familial ties to Hank. In this lesson, students will identify,
analyze, and discuss the climax of the narrative and the actions in Chapter Six.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing the emotional and physical conflicts presented in
Chapter Six. How does this chapter mark the beginning of the climax of the novel?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which examines and analyzes the plot structure of A Simple
Plan. Where does the exposition, rising action and climax occur in the text?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Who comes downstairs and tries to convince Lou to put away his gun in Chapter Six?

• Who kills Lou in Chapter Six?

• Who kills Nancy in Chapter Six?

• Whom does Hank call from Lou's house in Chapter Six?

• Whom does Hank decide to stage a scene with Nancy in bed in Chapter Six?

• How many people are shot in Chapter Six?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Seven.

Lesson 16 (from Chapters Seven and Eight)

Objective

Chapters Seven and Eight

43
In Chapter Seven, Hank and Sarah are at Delphia Medical Center where Jacob
undergoes extensive surgery. Sheriff Carl follows Hank, asking him some general
questions, including what the three of them were doing near the preserve that day he
encountered them. Hank knows that Carl doesn't suspect him of wrongdoing but does
somehow realize that there's something not quite right about the story. In this lesson,
students will examine, analyze, and discuss Jacob's condition, Sheriff Carl, and the
obstacles Hank faces in Chapter Seven.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing Jacob's condition in the beginning of Chapter Seven
and the outcome of events from Chapter Six. What indication was there in Chapter Six
that Jacob was still alive?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which examines the characters of Sheriff Carl, Jacob, Hank
and Sarah in Chapter Seven. What obstacles does Hank still face with the authorities?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Where does Jacob undergo surgery in Chapter Seven?

• Who asks Hank questions at the hospital in Chapter Seven?

• In Chapter Seven, Hank tells Sarah that despite everything, Jacob is his brother and
he doesn't want what?

• In Chapter Seven, Sarah says that if Jacob recovers, both she and Hank will what?

• What does Hank think Carl suspects him of in the chapter?

• What does Carl ask Hank at the hospital?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing the actions
of Hank in Chapters Six and Seven. What led to Hank's shooting his brother? How does
he feel about it afterward? What does Jacob know or recall about the events?

Lesson 17 (from Chapters Seven and Eight)

Objective

Chapters Seven and Eight

44
On the way home from the hospital, Hank tries to explain his actions and emotions to
Sarah. He says that when he realized Jacob wasn't dead, he couldn't bring himself to
finish the job. Sarah tells Hank that the things they've done are "horrible," but that
everything has been an effort to save them, making it self-defense. Hank goes to bed;
he wakes to the phone's ringing and Sarah tells him that Jacob is dead. In this lesson,
students will analyze and discuss the actions of Hank and Sarah and Jacob's death in
Chapter Seven.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on the evolution of Hank and Sarah's relationship in Chapter
Seven. How do Hank and Sarah differ over the issue of Jacob?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings and develop a presentation which examines
the evolution of the power struggle in the narrative. How has Jacob's death lessened
Hank's obstacles?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• How does Hank justify his actions when talking to Sarah?

• What does Sarah think must happen to Jacob in order for her and Hank to be safe?

• How does Sarah justify Hank's actions? Does she act complicit with him?

• In Chapter Seven, Hank awakens to hearing the phone ring and Sarah tells him what?

• How does Hank feel when he discovers Jacob died?

• How does Sarah feel about Jacob's death?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Eight.

Lesson 18 (from Chapters Seven and Eight)

Objective

Chapters Seven and Eight

In Chapter Eight, Hank attends the funerals of Nancy, Sonny, Lou and then Jacob. Hank
is forced by the landlord to clear Jacob's possessions out of his apartment. He finds a
trunk and discovers a farming manual that Jacob had been studying. There's also a
machete. Hank packs it all back into the trunk and puts the trunk in the back of his

45
station wagon. In this lesson, students will define, identify, and analyze foreshadowing
in the narrative.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on the element of foreshadowing in literature. What are examples
from A Simple Plan which foreshadowed later events?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which demonstrates and analyzes examples of foreshadowing
from the text. How does Hank's discovery of the machete and farming manual represent
foreshadowing?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• How many funerals does Hank attend in Chapter Eight?

• The story emerges that who had been belligerent on the night of the murders in
Chapter Eight?

• Who suspected Nancy had been having an affair in Chapter Eight?

• Whose apartment does Hank go to in order to removing the belongings in Chapter

Eight?

• What does Hank discover inside a trunk in Chapter Eight?

• What tool does Hank discover inside a trunk in Chapter Eight?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing how
foreshadowing is used in suspense novels to build tension in the reader. How does this
use of foreshadowing differ from that in comedy or romance?

Lesson 19 (from Chapters Seven and Eight)

Objective

Chapters Seven and Eight

As Chapter Eight continues, Hank comes home from work one day to find newspaper
clippings describing the kidnapping of a seventeen-year-old named Alice McMartin. The
kidnappers had disguised themselves as police, had killed six people at the house
during the kidnapping, and had demanded $4.8 million. In this lesson, students will

46
analyze the emergence of Alice McMartin, Vernon Bokovsky, and Stephen Bokovsky
and the developments of the plot in Chapter Eight.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on the plot development of Alice McMartin, Vernon Bokovsky and
Stephen Bokovsky in the narrative. How does Sarah's discovery change their objectives
and actions?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which examines and analyzes the subplot of Alice McMartin in
the novel. How does this discovery change Hank's objective in the plot? How does it
affect his actions and those of Sarah?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• What does Carl ask Hank if he'd sell him in Chapter Eight?

• To what does Hank sell Jacob's truck in Chapter Eight?

• How much does Carl offer Hank for a gun in Chapter Eight?

• How much money does Hank take for the gun in Chapter Eight?

• What girl is described as having been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in Chapter
Eight?

• How old was the girl who had been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in Chapter
Eight?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing the theme
of "omission versus commission" in the narrative. How is taking the money from the
plane a crime? How has it led to various crimes? What is the driving force behind the
characters?

Lesson 20 (from Chapters Seven and Eight)

Objective

Chapters Seven and Eight

For Sarah's birthday, Hank buys a baby grand piano and goes to a government auction
where he bids and purchases a beachfront condo in Fort Myers, Florida. Hank soon
learns that the auction had been a scam and that he'd lost the $31,000 he'd paid for the

47
condominium. Hank begins to second-guess the entire situation and tells Sarah that he
plans to rent a blowtorch and cut the plane into pieces, burying the pieces. In this
lesson, students will analyze and discuss the effects of guilt and justification on Hank
and Sarah.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on the themes of justification and guilt in the narrative. How do
Hank and Sarah justify their actions? How much guilt do they feel?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings and develop a presentation which explores
the themes of guilt, blame and justification in the novel. How is "victimization" used as
justification? Who uses it?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• How many people were killed in the house during the kidnapping described in the
newspaper in Chapter Eight?

• What had been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the articles in
Chapter Eight?

• What had not been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the articles in
Chapter Eight?

• Who is the older of two brothers who kidnapped and killed a girl described in the
newspaper in Chapter Eight?

• Whom does Hank realize the money belongs to in Chapter Eight?

• What does Hank buy for Sarah's birthday in Chapter Eight?

• Where does Hank purchase a condo in Chapter Eight?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Nine.

Lesson 21 (from Chapters Nine and Ten)

Objective

Chapters Nine and Ten

In Chapter Nine, the weather turns again and it begins to snow so that the outlines of
the graves across the street from Hank's office are obliterated. The snow acts as a

48
sedative. He knows that it's only a matter of time before the plane is found, suspicions
pass, and he can leave with Sarah, Amanda, and the money. Then Carl phones and
asks Hank to come by his office. Hank does so, and Carl introduces him to a man
identified as Agent Neal Baxter of the FBI. In this lesson, students will identify and
analyze imagery in the novel and discuss Agent Baxter.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on Agent Neal Baxter and the symbolism and imagery described
in Chapter Nine. What does the snow represent to Hank at this point in the narrative?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which analyzes the character of Neal Baxter and the situation
Hank faces in Chapter Nine. What is at risk in the narrative?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• What causes the outlines of the graves across the street from Hank's office to be
obliterated in Chapter Nine?

• Where does Carl ask Hank to come on the phone in Chapter Nine?

• What FBI Agent does Hank meet in Chapter Nine?

• What metaphors does Scott B. Smith use in Chapter Nine?

• What are examples of similes used in Chapter Nine?

• How is Agent Baxter described by Hank in the narrative?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing the use of
imagery in Chapter Nine. What are examples of similes and metaphors in the chapter?
How does Smith use this imagery to explore the novel's themes?

Lesson 22 (from Chapters Nine and Ten)

Objective

Chapters Nine and Ten

Agent Baxter tells Hank that he's searching for an airplane that might have gone down
somewhere in the area and that Carl had recalled Jacob's story about hearing the
plane. Baxter says that some men robbed an armored car at the Chicago Federal

49
Reserve Bank and that the case had gone cold until recently. In this lesson, students
will analyze Baxter's story and discuss the growing suspense in the narrative.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on Agent Baxter's story about the armored car robbery. What
elements of the story are questionable? How does Hank respond to the story?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings and develop a presentation which examines
and analyzes the style of A Simple Plan. How does Smith effectively build suspense in
Chapter Nine?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• What does the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine say he is looking for?

• Where does the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine say an armored car was robbed?

• The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says that the armored car robbery case went cold until
one of the suspects recently did what?

• Where does Carl want Hank to take him and the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine?

• When does Hank plan on meeting Carl and the FBI Agent the next day in Chapter
Nine?

• Whom does Hank admit the FBI Agent might be after reviewing the newspaper
clippings in Chapter Nine?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing Agent
Baxter and the building suspense in the plot structure of A Simple Plan. What is Hank's
greatest obstacle in Chapter Nine?

Lesson 23 (from Chapters Nine and Ten)

Objective

Chapters Nine and Ten

When Hank tells Sarah that he will have to return the money to the plane if he plans to
take the man he knows as Baxter to the site, Sarah says that he can't return the money
"after all you've done." Hank latches onto the word "you" and corrects her by saying, "all
we've done." Sarah barely comments but it seems that Sarah is not above distancing

50
herself from Hank and his crimes. In this lesson, students will analyze and discuss the
theme of blame in the narrative and the tension between Sarah and Hank.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing the relationship between Hank and Sarah in Chapter
Nine. How has the tension between the characters grown from the beginning to this
point? Why?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which analyzes and discusses the evolution of Hank and
Sarah's relationship through the story. How have Sarah's objectives changed?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Who states that the kidnapping made sense but that the FBI Agent's story does not in
Chapter Nine?

• Hank states in Chapter Nine that if he takes the FBI Agent to the plane, he must do
what?

• Hank realizes that if the FBI Agent is actually the kidnapper, he will kill whom in
Chapter Nine?

• What does Sarah imply in her argument with Hank about his actions?

• How has the level of trust changed between Sarah and Hank at this point in the story?

• What has Sarah asked Hank about killing her?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Ten.

Lesson 24 (from Chapters Nine and Ten)

Objective

Chapters Nine and Ten

In Chapter Ten, Hank arrives early at Carl's office and tells him that he's going to have
to put Jacob's dog down and asks to borrow a gun for the chore. Carl agrees and lends
Hank a pistol. Hank is crossing the street to his office as Baxter arrives. On a hunch he
yells, "Hey, Vernon," but can't really decide whether Baxter turns at the sound of the
name. In this lesson, students will analyze Agent Baxter's real identity and the
symbolism in Chapter Ten.

51
Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing Hank's actions and the actions of Agent Baxter in
Chapter Ten. Why does Hank borrow a pistol from Carl? What is his intention with the
gun?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which examines and analyzes Hank's situation in Chapter
Ten. What is climactic about this scene?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• In Chapter Ten, Hank arrives early at Carl's office and tells him that he has to go where
before going out to the place?

• What does Hank ask to borrow from Carl in Chapter Ten?

• What does Hank tell Carl he's going to have to do with Jacob's dog in Chapter Ten?

• What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in Chapter Ten?

• What is Agent Baxter's reaction when he hears the name Vernon?

• What are examples of symbolism in Chapter Ten? What themes do they support?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing the
development of the plot structure in A Simple Plan. How have Hank's plans changed
from the first chapter to Chapter Ten? What obstacles does he face at this point in the
novel?

Lesson 25 (from Chapters Nine and Ten)

Objective

Chapters Nine and Ten

At his office, Hank calls Sarah who has been on the phone with the FBI to check for
Agent Baxter. She tells Hank now that the FBI says that Neal Baxter is "in the field." At
Sarah's insistence, Hank calls Carl saying that Amanda is throwing up and that he has
to go home. Hank later receives a call from Fulton County Sheriff McKellroy who says
that Carl has been murdered and that Hank is needed to identify the man who left with
Carl. In this lesson, students will analyze and discuss Sheriff Carl's death, Sheriff
McKellroy, and Agent Baxter.

52
Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on Sheriff Carl's death, Sheriff McKellroy, and Agent Baxter. What
is the true identity of Agent Baxter? Who predicted this outcome?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings and develop a presentation which examines
and analyzes Sheriff Carl's death and the situation in Chapter Ten. Why did Hank
choose not to go with Agent Baxter and Carl?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Whom has Sarah been on the phone with when Hank calls her in Chapter Ten?

• What does Hank tell Sarah he has to protect himself if the FBI Agent turns out to be a
kidnapper in Chapter Ten?

• Why does Hank tell Carl he has to go home in Chapter Ten?

• What is the name of the county whose sheriff calls Hank in Chapter Ten?

• What is the name of the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten?

• What does the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten tell him?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Eleven.

Lesson 26 (from Chapters Eleven and Twelve)

Objective

Chapters Eleven and Twelve

In Chapter Eleven, Hank meets Sheriff McKellroy in town and an officer named Collins
takes his statement. Hank says that he was supposed to go with Carl and the FBI agent
named Neal Baxter to the scene where he'd heard the plane but had been called home.
Collins tells Hank that Carl's wife had gone in search of Carl later in the day and had
found his body near the plane. In this lesson, students will analyze and discuss Officer
Collins and Hank's story in Chapter Eleven.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on Officer Collins and Hank's story in Chapter Eleven. What does
Hank worry about in retelling the story?
53
2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which examines and analyzes the character of Collins and his
role in the plot of the novel. What obstacles does Hank face in Chapter Eleven?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• The sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten tells him he needs Hank to identify whom?

• In what town does Hank work?

• What is the name of the subdivision where Hank and Sarah live?

• What is the name of the store where Hank works?

• What does Hank do to help him decide whether to go with Carl and the FBI Agent in
Chapter Ten?

• Why does Hank flip the coin a second time?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing Hank's
statement in Chapter Eleven. What elements of Hank's story conflict with one another?
What is Hank's main concern in this chapter?

Lesson 27 (from Chapters Eleven and Twelve)

Objective

Chapters Eleven and Twelve

Hank is accompanied by two officers to the scene of Baxter's body at a tollbooth on the
Ohio Turnpike. Hank identifies the man as the agent who had left the police station with
Carl. Then FBI agents who are really agents arrive and Hank is told that he has to come
with them and that they want him to repeat his story. Hank realizes he has no choice
and gets into the backseat of the agents' car. In this lesson, students will examine,
analyze, and discuss Hank's actions and obstacles in Chapter Eleven.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research on Hank's actions, objectives and obstacles in Chapter Eleven.
What is Hank's main concern over the money?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a

54
presentation for the class which examines the FBI agents in Chapter Eleven and the
growing suspense in the narrative. What is at risk for Hank in this chapter?

3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the

following:

• Whom did Vernon Bokovsky kidnap and murder?

• What is the name of the officer who takes Hank's statement in Chapter Eleven?

• Who had found Carl's body in Chapter Eleven?

• Where had Carl's body been found in Chapter Eleven?

• When had the armored car robbery taken place, according to the FBI Agent?

• How long does Hank stay waiting at the police station in Chapter Eleven?

4) Homework: Read Chapter Twelve.

Lesson 28 (from Chapters Eleven and Twelve)

Objective

Chapters Eleven and Twelve

After Hank gives his story to the FBI, they inform him that Neal Baxter's real identity was
Vernon Bokovsky and that the rest of the ransom money is missing. Hank asks what
happened to it and the agents say they don't know, but that they wrote down about one-
tenth of the serial numbers, and sooner or later the person who has the money will be
caught. Hank calls Sarah who reveals that she's bought some champagne with one of
the bills. In this lesson, students will analyze and discuss Hank's choices and actions in
Chapter Twelve.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in analyzing Hank's actions in Chapter Twelve. What does Hank
discover about the money in this chapter? What obstacle does he face in Sarah's
having spent one of the bills?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which examines and analyzes Hank's choices in Chapter
Twelve. What other actions might he have taken to get the money back?

55
3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the
following:

• How much money was missing, according to the FBI?

• How many of the serial numbers of the bills had been recorded?

• What does Hank realize once he hears the story of the FBI?

• What did Sarah purchase with one of the bills?

• Where did Sarah make a purchase with the bill?

• Who was with Sarah when she purchased champagne?

4) Homework: Students are to complete a brief (1-2 page) paper discussing the plot
structure of the novel and its build in Chapter Twelve. Where is the climax in the
chapter? What actions does Hank take which remove him from a typical "hero"
character?

Lesson 29 (from Chapters Eleven and Twelve)

Objective

Chapters Eleven and Twelve

When Hank goes to Alexander's to kill the clerk, a radio Christian program plays in the
background discussing the difference between a sin of "omission" and a sin of
"commission." This is exactly the question posed by Hank to Sarah when they were
deciding whether to go with Carl to the site of the plane crash. The incident with
Amanda is, in Sarah's mind, judgment for their sins. In this lesson, students will identify,
analyze, and discuss the denouement and overriding themes of A Simple Plan.

Lesson

1) Research Activity: Allow students time in the beginning of class to conduct

independent research in identifying and defining the denouement of A Simple Plan.
What happens to Hank and Sarah at the end of the story? What happens to Amanda
and why?

2) Group Activity: Following the research activity, students are to gather into small
groups of 3-4 each to discuss their findings. As a group, students are to develop a
presentation for the class which illustrates the plot structure of A Simple Plan, defining
the exposition, rising action, climax and denouement. What central theme ties the story
together?

56
3) Class Discussion: Ask students to participate in answering and discussing the
following:

• What does Hank don in the back of the store in Chapter Twelve?

• What does Hank take from the trunk in his car before entering the store in Chapter
Twelve?

• What does the store clerk grab for protection in Chapter Twelve?

• How old is the woman who arrives at the store when Hank is trying to clean up in
Chapter Twelve?

• What does Hank do to the customer who arrives as he's trying to clean up and leave
the store in Chapter Twelve?

• What do Hank and Sarah do with the money in Chapter Twelve?

4) Homework: Students are advised to bring their notes, prior assignments, research
and other source materials to class for the final review of A Simple Plan. In the following
class, students will review the terms, characters, settings, and plot of the novel in
preparation for the final exam.

Lesson 30 (from Chapters Eleven and Twelve)

Objective

Chapters Eleven and Twelve

In the final lesson for A Simple Plan by Scott B. Smith, students will review the literary
terms, themes, characters, and imagery of the novel, the author's biographical history,
and the research studied over the course. Students will participate in a review game
and enjoy a fun activity.

Lesson

1) Class discussion: Ask the class to participate in giving an overview of the novel,
including the major events, themes, symbolism, characters, settings, etc. that have
been covered over the class. Ask students to answer the following:

• Hank's parents were killed how long after he was married?

• How were Hank's parents killed?

• What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

• What is the predominant breed of Jacob's dog?

57
• What does Jacob's dog run in pursuit of in Chapter One?

• What does Hank bring with him from the plane in Chapter One?

• What is the name of Lou's girlfriend?

• What is the name of Hank's wife?

• How many months pregnant is Hank's wife in Chapter Two?

• Who remains in the car while Hank hikes to the plane in Chapter Three?

• Who is killed in Chapter Three?

• Where does Jacob take Hank in Chapter Four?

• What does Jacob say he believes their parents did to escape their debts in Chapter
Five?

• Where does Hank go to turn off the lights in the end of Chapter Six?

• What happens to the money in the end of the novel?

2) Class Activity: Ask students to raise hands and give their opinion of the work. Did
they like it? Why or why not? What did they think of the author's imagery and themes in
the novel? How did they relate to Hank as the protagonist? Which character did they
sympathize with the most?

3) Group Activity: Select students to read sections of the prose from the narratives. To
allow more students to participate, change the cast for each section.

4) Homework: Review the journals, notes, and papers written during the course of the
entire collection to prepare for the test.

58
Fun Activities
Film
Give students the opportunity to watch the film A Simple Plan and write a brief (1-2
page) paper discussing the differences between the novel and film adaptation.

Draw the Setting

Give students the opportunity to draw the setting of A Simple Plan. How do they
envision Ashenville, Ohio?

News Article
Ask students to look in their local newspaper for an article that involves some aspect of
the novel and bring it to class. They will present it in front of the class and explain why it
relates to the novel.

Draw a Character
Have students draw their interpretation of a character from the novel. Artistic ability is
not important, but their drawings must reflect the type of costume worn by the character,
whether the character is fat or thin, bald, prim or sloppy. What colors do the characters
wear?

Interview a Character
Give students the opportunity to create an improvised interview with one of the
characters from the novel. Students will present their work before the class.

Recast the Film

Give students the opportunity to cast their own film adaptation of A Simple Plan. What
actors would they choose and why?

Write a Poem or Song

Ask students to write a poem (or song) as a character from the novel. The poem or
song comes from that character's point of view.

59
Diary Entry
Students should write a 2-3 page diary entry from the point of view of any character of
their choosing. What does this character think about? What do they like and dislike?

Real Life Crimes

Give students the opportunity to research real-life crimes in history which resemble
those in A Simple Plan. Where did Smith find inspiration for the novel?

Character Collage
Ask students to make a collage from old magazines, newspapers, etc. from the point of
view of a character from the novel. The collage should represent this character in terms
of emotion, clothing, and interests. It can be abstract, but students should be able to
explain their choices.

Perform Scenes
Students are allowed to get up in small groups and enact chapters from the novel.
Switch up the chapters and students so that everyone gets an opportunity to perform.

Theme Collage
Using some of the imagery which is described in the novel, create a collage which
embodies the mood of the novel and its central themes.

Oprah Interview
Students come in front of the class in groups of three. Two students will choose
characters from the novel and the third student will be "Oprah." Oprah gets to interview
the characters, asking them about their life, feelings, and relationships with other
characters.

Write an Unwritten Chapter

At their choosing, give the students the opportunity to write an unwritten chapter for the
novel. It may shed light on a particular character, give a back-story to the plot, or
increase the action. The main point is that they show creativity and an understanding of
the text.

60
Rewrite the Ending
Give students time in class to recreate a different ending for the novel. How might they
have chosen to have Hank and Sarah conclude the plot?

Sketch Improv
Each student chooses a character from the novel, and groups of 2-3 come together to
create a spontaneous sketch, parodying the novel. Students can interject and give
situations for the characters to act out.

Other Works
Give students an opportunity to read one of Scott Smith's other works and write a
comparative paper discussing the similarities and differences in style, themes, and
structure.

Write a Letter
Ask students to write a letter from one person to another in the text. What would they
write about?

Web Page
Students may create a web page which details the novel's characters. Students may
choose images of actors, real people, historical images, etc. Students should ensure the
privacy of the web page to prevent copyright infringement over any images.

Tag Test Review

Preparing for the test, students are "tagged." The first student will be tagged by the
teacher, who will ask the student a question about the novel. If that student answers
correctly, they tag the next student (of their choosing) and ask another question. When
a student gets the question wrong, he/she is "out." The last student wins.

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Essay Topics
Essay Topic 1
Describe the author Scott Bechtel Smith. For what major works is Smith most known?
What screenplays has the author adapted and/or written?

Essay Topic 2
Identify and discuss the narrative voice of the novel and Hank Mitchell as the
protagonist. What character traits does Hank embody in Chapter One?

Essay Topic 3
Describe the setting of A Simple Plan. Where is Ashenville, Ohio located? What is the
climate like at this location? In what year and month does the novel begin?

Essay Topic 4
Define and discuss the element of theme in literature. How is the theme of trust
established in Chapter One?

Essay Topic 5
Describe the character of Carl Jenkins in the narrative. What threat does Carl pose to
Lou, Hank, and Jacob?

Essay Topic 6
Describe the character of Sarah and her relationship with Hank in the novel. What
weight does Hank give Sarah's opinion on his actions?

Essay Topic 7
Describe and discuss the character of Jacob in the narrative. How much older is Jacob
than Hank? What is their relationship like?

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Essay Topic 8
Discuss the character of Dwight Penderson in the narrative and his role in the plot of the
novel. Why did Penderson approach Jacob?

Essay Topic 9
Discuss the character of Nancy in the novel. What is the threat of Nancy knowing about
the money? How does this impact Sarah's objectives?

Essay Topic 10
Discuss the element of symbolism in literature. What symbolic elements have been
illustrated in A Simple Plan? What does the farm symbolize?

Essay Topic 11
Discuss the theme of family in the novel. How does Jacob's bear represent family
symbolically in Chapter Five?

Essay Topic 12
Describe Sarah's plan for Lou in Chapter Five. Why does Sarah believe Lou will remain
a problem even after the money is dispersed?

Essay Topic 13
Describe and discuss Hank, Lou, and Jacob's actions and objectives in taking Lou to
Wrangler's in Chapter Six. What does Hank hope will come of the setup? What are
Jacob's hopes for the situation?

Essay Topic 14
Discuss Jacob's role in setting up Lou in Chapter Six. What internal conflicts does Jacob
face in this scenario and why? Whom does he choose in the end?

Essay Topic 15
Describe the emotional and physical conflicts presented in Chapter Six. How does this
chapter mark the beginning of the climax of the novel?

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Essay Topic 16
Discuss the actions of Hank in Chapters Six and Seven. What led to Hank's shooting his
brother? How does he feel about it afterward? What does Jacob know or recall about
the events?

Essay Topic 17
Describe the evolution of Hank and Sarah's relationship in Chapter Seven. How do
Hank and Sarah differ over the issue of Jacob?

Essay Topic 18
Describe examples of foreshadowing from the text. How does Hank's discovery of the
machete and farming manual represent foreshadowing?

Essay Topic 19
Discuss the plot development of Alice McMartin, Vernon Bokovsky, and Stephen
Bokovsky in the narrative. How does Sarah's discovery change their objectives and
actions?

Essay Topic 20
Discuss the theme of "omission versus commission" in the narrative. How is taking the
money from the plane a crime? How has it led to various crimes? What is the driving
force behind the characters?

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Short Essay Questions
1. When and how did Hank's parents die?

2. Where does Jacob Mitchell live? Why does he meet with Hank in the beginning of
Chapter One?

3. Why do Hank, Lou, and Jacob enter Anders Nature Preserve in Chapter One?

4. What does Hank find inside the crashed plane in Chapter One?

5. What do Hank, Lou, and Jacob question about the money from the plane after finding
it in Chapter One?

6. What argument does Hank, Lou and Jacob each make for what to do with the money
in Chapter One?

65
7. What decision does Hank reach about what to do with the money in Chapter One?

8. Who do Hank, Lou and Jacob encounter when they return to the truck in Chapter
One?

9. What does Jacob ask Hank and Carl when he emerges from the truck in Chapter
One?

10. What does Hank resolve to do if he is threatened with being caught in Chapter One?
How much money is in the bag?

11. What recollection of his parents does Hank have in the beginning of Chapter Three?

12. Where does Hank find Sarah in the morning of Chapter Three?

13. Why does Hank call Jacob in the morning of Chapter Three?

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14. Where does Hank stow some of the money in Chapter Three? How does he hide
the fact from Jacob?

15. Whom does Hank find Jacob talking with when he returns to the car in Chapter
Three?

16. What does Hank discover about Penderson when he returns to the car in Chapter
Three?

17. What decision does Hank come to about Penderson in Chapter Three? Why?

18. What does Hank do with Penderson's snowmobile in Chapter Three?

19. Why does Jacob cry in Chapter Three? What argument ensues between Jacob and
Hank?

20. How do Sarah's motivations begin to evolve in Chapter Four? What does this
indicate?

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21. When does Sarah return home from the hospital in Chapter Five? What does Jacob
bring?

22. What plan does Sarah develop for Lou in Chapter Five? Why?

23. What conversation do Jacob and Hank have about their parents in Chapter Five?

24. Why does Jacob spend the night at Hank's in Chapter Five? What agreement does
he come to with Hank?

25. What game do Jacob, Hank, and Sarah play in Chapter Five? What happens
afterward?

26. What does Hank feel about his brother's future in Chapter Five? Why does he
change his mind?

27. Where do Lou, Hank, and Jacob go in Chapter Six? What does Lou reveal about his
debts?

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28. How do Hank and Jacob effectively set Lou up in Chapter Six?

29. Who attempts to stop the violent argument in Chapter Six? What happens?

30. What do Hank and Jacob decide to do about their situation in the end of Chapter
Six? Who suggests a different plan?

31. Where does Chapter Seven begin? Who is present in the opening of the chapter?

32. What does Hank attempt to justify to Sarah in Chapter Seven?

33. What is Sarah's belief about Jacob in Chapter Seven? What happens to him?

34. Whose funerals does Hank attend in Chapter Eight? What stories emerge?

69
35. What does Hank find in Jacob's apartment in Chapter Eight?

36. To whom does Hank sell Jacob's truck and other belongings in Chapter Eight?

37. What newspaper clippings does Hank discover in Chapter Eight?

38. Who are the kidnappers described in Chapter Eight?

39. What does Hank purchase for Sarah's birthday in Chapter Eight?

40. How does Hank respond when Sarah asks if he would kill her for the money in
Chapter Eight?

41. What effect does the snow have on Hank in Chapter Nine? Why?

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42. How does Hank meet Agent Baxter? What is his first impression of him?

43. Why does Agent Baxter tell Hank he is investigating in the area in Chapter Nine?

44. What is Sarah's response to the story told by Agent Baxter in Chapter Nine?

45. What does Hank say he'll have to do if he goes to the plane in Chapter Nine? What
is Sarah's response?

46. What mode of action does Hank begin to question in Chapter Nine at night?

47. What does Hank ask to borrow from Carl in the beginning of Chapter Ten? Why?

48. How does Hank attempt to trick Agent Baxter in Chapter Ten? What happens?

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49. What does Hank do in order to decide whether to go with Carl and Agent Baxter in
Chapter Ten?

50. What excuse does Hank give Carl for not accompanying him in Chapter Ten? How
does he feel about it?

51. What does Hank tell Sheriff McKellroy and Collins in Chapter Eleven?

52. Who found Carl's body? Where? Who tells Hank?

53. Whom is Hank asked to identify in Chapter Eleven?

54. Where does Hank go with Sheriff McKellroy and Collins after the station in Chapter
Eleven? Why?

55. What worries Hank about meeting with the "real" FBI agents in Chapter Eleven?

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56. What causes Hank distress while giving his statement to the FBI agents in Chapter
Eleven?

57. What do the FBI agents respond after hearing Hank's statement in Chapter Eleven?

58. What is Hank's reaction to seeing the bag of money in Chapter Eleven?

59. What does Hank discover from the FBI about the missing money in Chapter
Eleven?

60. What are symbolic elements during the murder at Alexander's in Chapter Twelve?

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Short Essay Questions Key
1. When and how did Hank's parents die?

Hank Mitchell's parents were killed in an auto accident the year after Hank married.
Hank's wife Sarah believes that the wreck wasn't an accident but was Hank's father's
way of escaping the enormous debts they'd accumulated. A week before the accident
his father had brought Hank a load of furniture. Then he had given the old pickup to
Hank's older brother Jacob.

2. Where does Jacob Mitchell live? Why does he meet with Hank in the beginning
of Chapter One?

Jacob lives in Ashenville, Ohio, in an apartment over the hardware store. Their father's
will requires that the brothers visit their parents' grave annually on their father's birthday.
In 1987, Hank and Jacob head to the cemetery to fulfill their annual obligation. Hank
has brought along his friend Lou and his dog, a part German Shepherd male named -
ironically - Mary Beth.

3. Why do Hank, Lou, and Jacob enter Anders Nature Preserve in Chapter One?

Jacob is driving. When they crash into a snow bank, Mary Beth rushes off in pursuit of a
fox that crossed the road directly in front of them into Anders Nature Preserve. Jacob
puts a single bullet into his rifle, and the three men go looking for the fox. They top the
rim of a shallow dip and find a plane there.

4. What does Hank find inside the crashed plane in Chapter One?

Jacob and Lou goad Hank into going inside the plane to check on the pilot. There are
dozens of crows and one that has been in the plane strikes Hank in the forehead in its
effort to escape the plane. Jacob finds that the pilot is dead and that the man's eyes
have been pecked out and flesh eaten from his face. Hank pushes his way back out of
the plane along with a large duffel bag.

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5. What do Hank, Lou, and Jacob question about the money from the plane after
finding it in Chapter One?

There's an immediate question of how to handle the money with Hank serving as the
voice of reason. He says that someone is looking for the money. He's countered by the
fact that the plane has been snowed on, meaning it was here for at least two days prior
to their discovery. Hank says that someone has to know about the money and is
searching for it.

6. What argument does Hank, Lou and Jacob each make for what to do with the
money in Chapter One?

Lou says that if someone were looking for it, the story would have been on the news.
Jacob argues that taking the money wouldn't hurt anyone. Hank says that taking the
money would be theft, and that fact alone is enough reason to turn the money in. Hank
begins to search his mind for some plan that would allow them to keep the money
without getting caught.

7. What decision does Hank reach about what to do with the money in Chapter
One?

Hank finally decides that that the plane is bound to be discovered in the spring after the
snow is gone and that with that discovery will come news about the origin of the money.
Hank comes to a decision and says that he'll keep the money for six months and that if
no one comes for it by then, the three will split the money evenly between them.

8. Who do Hank, Lou and Jacob encounter when they return to the truck in
Chapter One?

Hank and Lou throw the bag of money into the back of the pickup. They are
mesmerized by the sight of the money that spills from the bag so that they don't notice
the sheriff's truck pulling up. Hank instinctively covers the money from the sight of Carl
Jenkins, the town's police officer for more than forty years who was known as "Sheriff."

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9. What does Jacob ask Hank and Carl when he emerges from the truck in
Chapter One?

Jacob gets out of the truck and asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane." As Hank
stares at Jacob, Jacob explains to Carl that they thought they'd heard a plane going
down several days earlier when he and Hank had been in this area. Carl says it was
probably a snowmobile and leaves.

10. What does Hank resolve to do if he is threatened with being caught in Chapter
One? How much money is in the bag?

As the three men drive slowly away from their encounter with Carl, Hank says that he
will burn the money if there's any indication that he's going to be caught as an
accomplice to the theft they've committed. They stop and count the money while Hank
watches for approaching cares. They make forty-four stacks of bills that equal $4.4
million.

11. What recollection of his parents does Hank have in the beginning of Chapter
Three?

Hank's mind drifts back to his last encounter with his parents, two days before their
deaths, when his father had asked him to look into their financial situation. Hank had
said that there was no way to keep the bank from foreclosing. He wanted to talk to them
about it, but his father went to bed. His mother said not to worry, that they'll manage.

12. Where does Hank find Sarah in the morning of Chapter Three?

When Sarah returns to the bedroom, Hank returns to the present. Hank goes to the
shower, discovers there are no towels, and returns to the bedroom to find Sarah on the
floor with the money. She says that she had wanted to count it for herself. That would
make it more real.

13. Why does Hank call Jacob in the morning of Chapter Three?

Hank calls Jacob to say that they have to return to the plane to be certain they didn't
overlook anything. Jacob, not yet awake, reluctantly agrees. Hank hides the money he
plans to leave in the plane inside a garbage bag inside a baby carryall. He had decided

76
that Jacob could not know, for fear that he or Lou would return to the plane and get the
money.

14. Where does Hank stow some of the money in Chapter Three? How does he
hide the fact from Jacob?

Hank allows Jacob to stay in the car, avoiding the half-hour ride to the plane and
avoiding the problem of keeping his true purpose hidden. Hank looks around carefully
for anything that might give their involvement away. He shoves the garbage bag full of
money under the pilot's feet toward the nose of the plane.

15. Whom does Hank find Jacob talking with when he returns to the car in
Chapter Three?

Hank sees Jacob standing outside the car, talking to someone on a snowmobile and
gesturing wildly. Hank gets closer and sees that it's Dwight Penderson, an older man
who lives in the area. As Hank approaches, trying to seem calm and in control, he sees
Jacob suddenly swing out wildly at Mr. Penderson, striking him in the side of the head.

16. What does Hank discover about Penderson when he returns to the car in
Chapter Three?

Jacob falls on Penderson, and Hank runs toward him. Bending to check Penderson's
pulse, Hank finds that he's dead. Jacob says that Penderson was searching for the fox
that had been taking his chickens. Jacob says that Penderson was bound to locate the
plane.

17. What decision does Hank come to about Penderson in Chapter Three? Why?

Hank decides that they will make Penderson's death look like an accident by running his
snowmobile off the bridge into the frozen creek below. Hank sends Jacob down the road
with the car, telling him to wait a few minutes and then return to pick up Hank. After
Jacob is gone, Hank discovers that Penderson is alive and hesitates only a moment
before smothering the man with his scarf.

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18. What does Hank do with Penderson's snowmobile in Chapter Three?

Hank then loads him back on the snowmobile, holding him in a sitting position and
positioning himself behind the corpse. He drives to the bridge and up onto the snowdrift
at the side, dismounts and pushes the machine over, taking time to note that Penderson
is pinned beneath the snowmobile.

19. Why does Jacob cry in Chapter Three? What argument ensues between Jacob
and Hank?

Jacob returns to pick up Hank. Hank notes the mess of tracks on the road as they pass
the scene of the crime. Jacob is crying about having killed Penderson, and Hank finally
tells Jacob that Penderson wasn't dead when Jacob left. Hank says that he himself
killed Penderson and that he did so in order to save Jacob. Jacob says that Hank
shouldn't have killed him.

20. How do Sarah's motivations begin to evolve in Chapter Four? What does this
indicate?

Sarah seems on the verge of suggesting that Hank should kill Lou to take him out of
their equation, but she doesn't say that. Hank believes that's what she's about to say.
The fact that Jacob does suggest it is an indication of the extent of the greed of these
characters. There's no doubt that Lou is thinking the same way.

21. When does Sarah return home from the hospital in Chapter Five? What does
Jacob bring?

Sarah and the baby Amanda come home four days after the birth. Jacob arrives that
same day with a gift - a musical teddy bear. Hank invites him in, but Jacob refuses.
Jacob asks to borrow a hundred and fifty dollars for his rent, saying that he hoped Hank
could simply take it from his share of the money. He says that he isn't looking for a job
and that he sees no reason to.

22. What plan does Sarah develop for Lou in Chapter Five? Why?

Sarah says that Lou will never stop hounding them about Penderson. She predicts that
he'll spend all his own money and then blackmail Lou and Jacob. She says that Hank

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should get Lou to somehow say that he killed Penderson, tape this false confession,
and use it to control Lou.

23. What conversation do Jacob and Hank have about their parents in Chapter
Five?

Hank and Jacob go to visit their parents' grave, having not gotten around to it on the day
they were supposed to have gone in December. On the way the brothers talk about
various aspects of their lives, including their parents, and Jacob says he believes their
parents committed suicide to escape their debts, an idea Hank had only half-believed
up to that point.

24. Why does Jacob spend the night at Hank's in Chapter Five? What agreement
does he come to with Hank?

They return to Hank's where Sarah is making lasagna for supper, and Jacob agrees to
stay. Jacob and Hank drink a lot of wine, and Jacob winds up spending the night. Before
going to bed, Jacob tells Hank he'll help with Lou if Hank will help Jacob secure the farm
for his own. Jacob agrees but knows that he won't really.

25. What game do Jacob, Hank, and Sarah play in Chapter Five? What happens
afterward?

Jacob, Hank, and Sarah decide to play monopoly, and Sarah proposes that they play
with real hundred dollar bills from the plane. Jacob begs, too, and Hank gives in but
soon notes that the thrill wears off quickly as they buy imaginary property with the real
money. After Hank puts Jacob to bed, he counts the packets of money used for the
game.

26. What does Hank feel about his brother's future in Chapter Five? Why does he
change his mind?

While Hank is drunk, he feels hopeful that he and his brother will find a new way to
make a life together and that he can find a love for his brother that he never felt before.
As soon as the liquor wears off, Hank realizes it was an unattainable dream.

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27. Where do Lou, Hank, and Jacob go in Chapter Six? What does Lou reveal
about his debts?

Lou agrees to go out with Hank and Jacob, and they go to the Wrangler. While Jacob is
gone to the bar for another round of drinks, Hank asks Lou why he couldn't have waited
just a few more months for the money. Lou says that he is some seventeen thousand in
debt, and that he's spent Nancy's savings. Lou still believes that Hank is going to give
him the money within a few days.

28. How do Hank and Jacob effectively set Lou up in Chapter Six?

Jacob offers to pretend to be the sheriff, and Lou plays along with Hank taping the entire
conversation. Hank then tells Lou that they're not going to split up the money until
summer, as they'd planned. Hank shows Lou the tape, explaining why he'd made it and
what he would do with it. Lou calls on Jacob to help him get the tape back, and Jacob
refuses.

29. Who attempts to stop the violent argument in Chapter Six? What happens?

Nancy comes downstairs and tries to convince Lou to put down his weapon. Hank is
hopeful that Nancy's calming presence will put an end to the volatile situation, but Lou
shouts at her to go back to bed and says that he's going to shoot the other two. Just
then there's an explosion, and Lou is suddenly gone from Hank's sight, blown back
through the door by Jacob's shot.

30. What do Hank and Jacob decide to do about their situation in the end of
Chapter Six? Who suggests a different plan?

Hank and Jacob talk briefly about their situation and decide that they're going to turn
themselves in, claiming self-defense. Hank calls Sarah first, and she says that he can't
call the police. She tells him to go get Sonny, Lou's landlord, and to stage the scene as
if Lou had caught Sonny and Nancy in bed together, killing them both and turning the
gun on Jacob who shot in self-defense.

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31. Where does Chapter Seven begin? Who is present in the opening of the
chapter?

Hank and Sarah are at Delphia Medical Center where Jacob undergoes extensive
surgery. Hank is later called to Jacob's room after Jacob recovers consciousness for a
few minutes and continues to rant out Hank's name. When Hank arrives in the room,
Jacob's heart rate increases. Hank is told to leave.

32. What does Hank attempt to justify to Sarah in Chapter Seven?

On the way home, Hank tries to explain his actions and emotions to Sarah. He says that
when he realized Jacob wasn't dead, he couldn't bring himself to finish the job. Hank
says that despite everything, Jacob is his brother. He doesn't want him to die. He says
that he'd wanted to protect them, but he had also wanted to save Jacob.

33. What is Sarah's belief about Jacob in Chapter Seven? What happens to him?

Sarah says that if Jacob recovers, both she and Hank will go to jail. Sarah tells Hank
that the things they've done are "horrible," but that everything has been an effort to save
them, making it self-defense. Hank goes to bed. He wakes to the phone's ringing, and
Sarah tells him that Jacob is dead.

34. Whose funerals does Hank attend in Chapter Eight? What stories emerge?

Hank attends the funerals of Nancy, Sonny, Lou, and then Jacob. The stories begin to
emerge that Lou had been belligerent earlier on the night of the murders and that a co-
worker suspected that Nancy had been having an affair for some time. Hank is forced
by the landlord to clear Jacob's possessions out of his apartment.

35. What does Hank find in Jacob's apartment in Chapter Eight?

Hank goes to Jacob's apartment alone and hurries through the task of throwing away a
lot. He bags everything into trash bags. He finds a truck and discovers inside a farming
manual that Jacob had been studying. There's also a machete. Hank packs it all back
into the trunk and puts the trunk in the back of his station wagon.

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36. To whom does Hank sell Jacob's truck and other belongings in Chapter
Eight?

Hank sells Jacob's truck to the feed store. He sees it every day when he goes to work.
One day Carl comes into the store and asks Hank if he'd consider selling Jacob's rifle.
Hank says that he hadn't given it any thought but that he, having no desire to hunt and
having never fired a rifle in his life, has no need for the gun. Carl offers Hank four
hundred dollars, and Hank says he'll take three.

37. What newspaper clippings does Hank discover in Chapter Eight?

Hank comes home from work one day to find newspaper clippings describing the
kidnapping of a seventeen-year-old named Alice McMartin. The kidnappers had
disguised themselves as police, had killed six people at the house during the
kidnapping, and had demanded $4.8 million. The next clipping indicated that Alice's
body had been found after the ransom was paid.

38. Who are the kidnappers described in Chapter Eight?

The final article provided potential identities of the kidnappers. They are brothers,
Vernon Bokovsky and Stephen Bokovsky. Sarah asks Hank if he can tell whether the
photo in the paper is one of the men in the plane, but Hank points out that the man's
face had been pecked away by birds. The man in the plane was small and so was likely
the younger of the brothers.

39. What does Hank purchase for Sarah's birthday in Chapter Eight?

For Sarah's birthday, Hank buys a baby grand piano. Sarah doesn't know how to play,
and the piano dwarfs their living room. He then goes to a government auction with the
hope of buying some jewelry, but once there learns that there are some properties for
sale as well, including a beachfront condo in Fort Myers, Florida.

40. How does Hank respond when Sarah asks if he would kill her for the money in
Chapter Eight?

Hank is upset by the question and says that he has never killed for the money but only
to protect them so that they didn't go to jail. Sarah presses, asking what Hank would do

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if she decided that she wanted to turn him in and tell the authorities the entire story.
Hank says that he could never harm either Sarah or Amanda and that the two are all he
has.

41. What effect does the snow have on Hank in Chapter Nine? Why?

The weather turns again, and it begins to snow so that the outlines of the graves across
the street from Hank's office are obliterated. The snow acts as a sedative, and he knows
that it's only a matter of time before the plane is found, suspicions pass, and he can
leave with Sarah, Amanda, and the money.

42. How does Hank meet Agent Baxter? What is his first impression of him?

Carl phones and asks Hank to come by his office. Hank does so, and Carl introduces
him to a man identified as Agent Neal Baxter of the FBI. Hank has the impression that
Baxter reminds him of someone, but the resemblance is so vague that Hank can't
remember whom.

43. Why does Agent Baxter tell Hank he is investigating in the area in Chapter
Nine?

Baxter says that he's searching for an airplane that might have gone down somewhere
in the area and that Carl had recalled Jacob's story about hearing the plane. Baxter
says that some men robbed an armored car at the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank and
that the case had gone cold until one of the men recently raped a girlfriend.

44. What is Sarah's response to the story told by Agent Baxter in Chapter Nine?

Hank goes home and tells Sarah about the conversation, but Sarah is immediately
suspicious, saying that the kidnapping made sense but that this story simply doesn't.
Sarah has Hank look again at the pictures from the newspaper of the kidnappers. Hank
cites the differences in hair, beard, and weight, though he admits that it could be
Vernon, the older of the Bokovsky brothers.

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45. What does Hank say he'll have to do if he goes to the plane in Chapter Nine?
What is Sarah's response?

Hank says that if he's going to take Baxter to the plane, he has to return the money.
Sarah says that they can't after all that's happened. Sarah then says that if the agent is
Vernon Bokovsky, he and Carl are the only threats to Hank having the money. She says
that Hank should simply stay away, but Hank argues that if Baxter is Vernon, he'll kill
Carl.

46. What mode of action does Hank begin to question in Chapter Nine at night?

In the middle of the night, Hank briefly realizes that the simplest action for him now
would be to take the money and leave everything - including Sarah and Amanda -
behind. Later that night Hank tells Sarah that he should just have turned the money in
when he found it, and Sarah says that it's much too late.

47. What does Hank ask to borrow from Carl in the beginning of Chapter Ten?
Why?

Hank arrives early at Carl's office and tells him that he must go by his office before
going out to the place he'd heard the sound of the plane. Hank tells Carl that he's going
to have to put Jacob's dog down and asks to borrow a gun for the chore. Carl agrees
and lends Hank a pistol. Hank is crossing the street to his office as Baxter arrives.

48. How does Hank attempt to trick Agent Baxter in Chapter Ten? What happens?

On a hunch he yells, "Hey, Vernon," but he can't really decide whether Baxter turns at
the sound of the name. At his office, Hank calls Sarah who has been on the phone with
the FBI to check for Agent Baxter. She tells Hank now that the FBI says that Neal Baxter
is "in the field."

49. What does Hank do in order to decide whether to go with Carl and Agent
Baxter in Chapter Ten?

Hank tells Sarah that he has Carl's gun and that he's going to be able to protect himself
if Baxter turns out to be Vernon. Sarah tells Hank he shouldn't go, and Hank finally
admits that he's afraid. Hank then tosses a coin, hoping that a flip of the coin will tell him

84
to go home. When the coin ends on the side that Hank had said would mean he should
go with Carl, he decides to flip again.

50. What excuse does Hank give Carl for not accompanying him in Chapter Ten?
How does he feel about it?

He calls Carl, saying that Amanda is throwing up and that he has to go home. When he
tells Carl that he must go home, Carl expresses concern for the baby and offers to send
help as well. Hank is touched by the concern and seems on the verge of warning Carl
but thinks better of it and finishes by saying that Carl should be careful on the roads.

51. What does Hank tell Sheriff McKellroy and Collins in Chapter Eleven?

Hank meets Sheriff McKellroy in town, and an officer named Collins takes his statement.
He says that he was supposed to go with Carl and the FBI agent named Neal Baxter to
the scene where he'd heard the engine but had been called home. He'd watched the
two of them drive off together.

52. Who found Carl's body? Where? Who tells Hank?

Collins tells Hank that Carl's wife had gone in search of Carl later in the day and had
found his body near the plane. Collins says that they've searched for information about
the armored car robbery that Baxter claimed had happened the previous July and had
found nothing like that.

53. Whom is Hank asked to identify in Chapter Eleven?

Hank remains waiting at the police station for an hour. The flag is dropped to half-mast
for Carl's death. Then there's a commotion, and Hank is asked to accompany officers to
identify a man they believe to be Carl's murderer. Sarah asks where they're taking him,
and Hank says he doesn't know. However, he believes the man is dead.

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54. Where does Hank go with Sheriff McKellroy and Collins after the station in
Chapter Eleven? Why?

Hank is accompanied by two officers to the scene of Baxter's body at a tollbooth on the
Ohio Turnpike. Hank says that the body is the man who had left the police station with
Carl and who had identified himself as Neal Baxter of the FBI. Hank notes that he's
relieved and that the entire ordeal is truly over.

55. What worries Hank about meeting with the "real" FBI agents in Chapter
Eleven?

FBI agents who are really agents arrive and Hank is once again worried that he's
overlooked something. He says that if anyone is going to tie him to the crime, it will be
these men. The men tell Hank that he has to come with them and that they want him to
repeat his story. Hank realizes he has no choice and gets into the backseat of the
agents' car.

56. What causes Hank distress while giving his statement to the FBI agents in
Chapter Eleven?

Hank talks, telling the story he's now come to know so well, and the agents merely sit
and listen without interrupting. Hank can't decide whether they believe the events as
they've been led to believe and that Hank is merely reiterating the facts or if they
already know of his guilt and are just letting him dig himself in deeper and deeper.

57. What do the FBI agents respond after hearing Hank's statement in Chapter
Eleven?

When he finishes, one of the agents says that there's "one thing wrong with your story."
Hank expects the worst, but the agent says that the man Hank is calling FBI agent
Baxter is really Vernon Bokovsky, a murderer and kidnapper. They then show Hank the
garbage bag full of money he'd returned to the plane.

58. What is Hank's reaction to seeing the bag of money in Chapter Eleven?

Hank seems amazed by the money and asks if he can "touch it." The agents seem
amused by his interest and allow him to hold one of the packets. He returns the money

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as they arrive back at the police station. One of the agents says that the kidnappers had
demanded $4.8 million.

59. What does Hank discover from the FBI about the missing money in Chapter
Eleven?

Hank asks what happened to the money, and the agents say they don't know, but that
the money will be caught in time. One of them says that the agents wrote down about
one-tenth of the serial numbers, meaning that sooner or later the numbers will show up
somewhere and that the person who has the money will be caught.

60. What are symbolic elements during the murder at Alexander's in Chapter
Twelve?

At Alexander's, the clerk has a radio tuned to a Christian program. One of those is a
question posed by the announcer who asks if there's a difference between a sin of
"omission" and a sin of "commission." This is exactly the question posed by Hank to
Sarah when they were deciding whether to go with Carl to the site of the plane crash.

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Multiple Choice
Chapters One and Two
1. Hank's parents were killed how long after he was married?
(a) 1 year.
(b) 1 month.
(c) 1 week.
(d) 3 years.

2. How were Hank's parents killed?

(a) Boat accident.
(b) Automobile accident.
(c) Motorcycle accident.
(d) Plane crash.

3. What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

(a) Furniture.
(b) A motorcycle.
(c) An R.V.
(d) A boat.

4. To whom had Hank's father given his pickup truck before he died?
(a) Sarah.
(b) Lou.
(c) Hank.
(d) Jacob.

5. Where does Jacob Mitchell live?

(a) Cincinnati, Ohio.
(b) Columbus Ohio.
(c) Ashenville, Ohio.
(d) Akron, Ohio.

6. Jacob Mitchell lives above what establishment?

(a) A hardware store.
(b) A barber shop.
(c) A bar.
(d) A police station.

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7. In what year does Chapter One begin?
(a) 1983.
(b) 1985.
(c) 1984.
(d) 1987.

8. What is the name of Jacob's dog?

(a) Spot.
(b) Sparky.
(c) Mary Beth.
(d) Buster.

9. What is the predominant breed of Jacob's dog?

(a) St. Bernard.
(b) German Shepherd.
(c) Great Dane.
(d) Doberman.

10. What does Jacob's dog run in pursuit of in Chapter One?

(a) A cat.
(b) A deer.
(c) A rabbit.
(d) A fox.

11. What does Jacob crash into in Chapter One?

(a) A tree.
(b) A snowbank.
(c) A parked car.
(d) A pedestrian.

12. Where does Jacob's dog run after he crashes in Chapter One?
(a) Anders Nature Preserve.
(b) The Anderson Reserve.
(c) Anderson Park.
(d) Antlers Park.

13. How many bullets does Jacob put into his rifle in Chapter One?
(a) Six.
(b) Two.
(c) One.
(d) Four.

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14. What strikes Hank in the forehead in its effort to escape the plane in Chapter
One?
(a) A crow.
(b) A cat.
(c) A squirrel.
(d) A fox.

15. What does Hank bring with him from the plane in Chapter One?
(a) A suitcase.
(b) A duffel bag.
(c) A paper bag.
(d) A wallet.

16. Hank, Lou, and Jacob reason that the plane must have been there for at least
how many days, based on the snowfall in Chapter One?
(a) 2 days.
(b) 5 days.
(c) 14 days.
(d) 7 days.

17. While discussing what to do with the money in Chapter One, Hank concludes
that to take it would be _______.
(a) Good.
(b) Murder.
(c) Rational.
(d) Theft.

18. What is Hank's profession?

(a) Accountant.
(b) Teacher.
(c) Doctor.
(d) Writer.

19. Where did Hank attend college?

(a) Cincinnati University.
(b) University of Columbus.
(c) University of Ohio.
(d) University of Toledo.

20. How much money does Hank estimate to be in the bag in Chapter One?
(a) $10 million.
(b) $1 million.
(c) $3 million.
(d) $5 million.

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21. In Chapter One, Hank decides to keep the money for how long before splitting
it to see if it is claimed?
(a) 8 weeks.
(b) 3 days.
(c) 6 months.
(d) 48 hours.

22. What is the name of Lou's girlfriend?

(a) Sarah.
(b) Janice.
(c) Betty.
(d) Nancy.

23. What is the name of Hank's wife?

(a) Janice.
(b) Sarah.
(c) Betty.
(d) Nancy.

24. How long is the hike back to Hank's truck in Chapter Two?
(a) 1/2 mile.
(b) 2 miles.
(c) 3 miles.
(d) 1 mile.

25. For how long has Carl been the town's police officer?
(a) 33 years.
(b) 3 years.
(c) 12 years.
(d) 40 years.

26. What is Carl's last name?

(a) Jefferson.
(b) Johnson.
(c) Jacobson.
(d) Jenkins.

27. Where does Hank tell Carl he was heading in Chapter Two?
(a) The cemetery.
(b) The bank.
(c) The doctor.
(d) The grocery store.

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28. Who asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane" in Chapter Two?
(a) Lou.
(b) Sonny.
(c) Jacob.
(d) Sarah.

29. What does Hank say he will do if there's any indication that he's going to be
caught as an accomplice to the theft they've committed in Chapter Two?
(a) Throw the money in a dumpster.
(b) Bury the money.
(c) Give the money to charity.
(d) Burn the money.

30. How many months pregnant is Hank's wife in Chapter Two?

(a) 10.
(b) 8.
(c) 6.
(d) 4.

Chapters Three and Four

31. Where is Hank's wife when he awakens in Chapter Three?
(a) Outside.
(b) The dentist.
(c) At church.
(d) The shower.

32. How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their
financial situation?
(a) 3 weeks.
(b) 3 months.
(c) 4 months.
(d) 2 days.

33. Why does Hank return to the bedroom when he goes to take a shower in
Chapter Three?
(a) No towels.
(b) He forgot underwear.
(c) To take off his shoes.
(d) There was no soap.

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34. What does Hank find his wife doing when he returns to the bedroom in
Chapter Three?
(a) Counting the money.
(b) Crying.
(c) Staring at him.
(d) Sleeping.

35. Whom does Hank call to say that they have to return to the plane to be certain
they didn't overlook anything in Chapter Three?
(a) Vernon.
(b) Jacob.
(c) Michael.
(d) Carl.

36. In Chapter Three, Hank hides the money he plans to leave in the plane inside
what object?
(a) A baby carryall.
(b) A briefcase.
(c) A teddy bear.
(d) His socks.

37. Who remains in the car while Hank hikes to the plane in Chapter Three?
(a) Nancy.
(b) Carl.
(c) Jacob.
(d) Sarah.

38. Where does Hank stuff the money in the plane in Chapter Three?
(a) In the snow.
(b) Near the tail.
(c) Under the seat.
(d) Under the pilot's feet.

39. When Hank returns to the car, whom does he see on a snowmobile in Chapter
Three?
(a) Dwight Penderson.
(b) Donald Smith.
(c) Danny Thompson.
(d) David Rodgers.

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40. Who strikes the man on the snowmobile in Chapter Three?
(a) Jacob.
(b) Lou.
(c) Carl.
(d) Hank.

41. What was the man on the snowmobile searching for in Chapter Three?
(a) The fox.
(b) Deer.
(c) Another trail.
(d) A stream.

42. How does Hank intend to make Jacob's murder look like an accident in
Chapter Three?
(a) Set the snowmobile on fire.
(b) Run the snowmobile off a ledge.
(c) Break the skis on the snowmobile.
(d) Put the snowmobile on top of the body.

43. What does Hank smother Penderson with in Chapter Three?

(a) His scarf.
(b) A hat.
(c) A pillow.
(d) His jacket.

44. Who cries over the murder in Chapter Three?

(a) Jacob.
(b) Lou.
(c) Sarah.
(d) Hank.

45. Why does Hank awaken and realize their tracks will be covered in Chapter
Three?
(a) The trees were dropping leaves.
(b) The wind is blowing hard.
(c) It snowed overnight.
(d) It is raining.

46. Whom does Jacob suggest that he and Hank tell about Penderson in Chapter
Three?
(a) Lou.
(b) Nancy.
(c) Carl.
(d) Sarah.

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47. Where is Penderson buried in Chapter Four?
(a) St. Jude's Episcopal Church.
(b) A veterans cemetary.
(c) The city cemetary.
(d) An elegant mausoleum.

48. Whom does Sarah say she ran into at the supermarket in Chapter Four?
(a) Carl.
(b) Nancy.
(c) Sonny.
(d) Lou.

49. Who does Hank say murdered Penderson in Chapter Four?

(a) Carl.
(b) Vernon.
(c) Lou.
(d) Jacob.

50. What does Sarah suggest they do with the money in Chapter Four?
(a) Spend it.
(b) Bury it.
(c) Burn it.
(d) Invest it.

51. Jacob appears at the feed store demanding that the clerk do what in Chapter
Four?
(a) Give him a discount.
(b) Load his vehicle.
(c) Honor a coupon.
(d) Cash a check.

52. Hank reminds Jacob that he's responsible for whose actions in Chapter Four?
(a) Sarah's.
(b) Nancy's.
(c) Lou's.
(d) His own.

53. What does Sarah respond when Hank asks her if his actions scare her in
Chapter Four?
(a) "It's over."
(b) "It's alright."
(c) "It's true."
(d) "It's done."

95
54. Where does Jacob take Hank in Chapter Four?
(a) The police station.
(b) The dentist.
(c) Their childhood home.
(d) The barber shop.

55. What does Jacob tell Hank he intends to buy in Chapter Four?
(a) A new house.
(b) A boat.
(c) A fancy car.
(d) The family farm.

56. What does Hank tell Jacob they will have to do to keep from prompting
questions about the source of the money in Chapter Four?
(a) Spend it slowly.
(b) Hide it for 10 years.
(c) Leave the country.
(d) Open a Swiss bank account.

57. Jacob intends to tell people that __________has inherited a large sum of
money in Chapter Four.
(a) Sarah.
(b) Lou.
(c) Nancy.
(d) Hank.

58. Who is Lou's landlord?

(a) Sonny Major.
(b) Sonny Connor.
(c) Sonny Winters.
(d) Sonny Robins.

59. Lou threatens to tell the police about ________ if Hank doesn't give him his
share of the money in Chapter Four.
(a) The money.
(b) A past crime.
(c) Penderson's murder.
(d) The plane.

60. How much money does Hank give Lou from his own wallet in Chapter Four?
(a) $100.
(b) $40.
(c) $20.
(d) $50.

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Chapters Five and Six
61. What is the name of Hank's baby in Chapter Five?
(a) Amelia.
(b) Emily.
(c) Erica.
(d) Amanda.

62. Sarah and the baby come home how many days after childbirth in Chapter
Five?
(a) 6.
(b) 1.
(c) 4.
(d) 3.

63. What gift does Jacob bring Sarah and the baby in Chapter Five?
(a) A teddy bear.
(b) Clothes.
(c) A ball.
(d) Food.

64. How much money does Jacob ask to borrow for his rent in Chapter Five?
(a) $200.
(b) $250.
(c) $80.
(d) $150.

65. What song does Jacob's gift to Sarah and the baby play in Chapter Five?
(a) "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."
(b) "Frere Jacques."
(c) "Old McDonald."
(d) "Mary had a Little Lamb."

66. Who suggests that Hank should get Lou to confess to Penderson's murder in
Chapter Five?
(a) Sarah.
(b) Carl.
(c) Jacob.
(d) Nancy.

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67. What does Hank purchase in order to carry out his plans for Lou in Chapter
Five?
(a) A gun.
(b) Ammunition.
(c) A tape recorder.
(d) Binoculars.

68. Where do Hank and Jacob go together in Chapter Five?

(a) The store.
(b) The cemetery.
(c) To see Lou.
(d) The police station.

69. What does Jacob say he believes their parents did to escape their debts in
Chapter Five?
(a) Ran away.
(b) Committed suicide.
(c) Declared bankruptcy.
(d) Changed their names.

70. What is Sarah making for supper when Hank and Jacob return in Chapter
Five?
(a) Steaks.
(b) Spaghetti.
(c) Lasagna.
(d) Hamburgers.

71. What beverage do Hank and Jacob overindulge on in Chapter Five?

(a) Wine.
(b) Rum.
(c) Beer.
(d) Whiskey.

72. In Chapter Five, Jacob tells Hank he'll help with Lou if Hank will help Jacob do
what?
(a) Open a foreign bank account.
(b) Get back to the plane.
(c) Secure the farm.
(d) Leave town.

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73. What board game do Hank and Jacob play in Chapter Five?
(a) Scrabble.
(b) Trivial Pursuit.
(c) Monopoly.
(d) Jenga.

74. What does Sarah suggest they use while playing a board game in Chapter
Five?
(a) Their imaginations.
(b) Coins.
(c) Poker chips.
(d) Real money.

75. What bar do Hank, Lou, and Jacob go to in Chapter Six?

(a) The Dirty Glass.
(b) The Logger Bar.
(c) The Wrangler.
(d) Pete's Place.

76. How much debt does Lou tell Hank he has in Chapter Six?
(a) $175,000.
(b) $17,000.
(c) $75,000.
(d) $28,000.

77. Whose savings does Lou say he's spent in Chapter Six?
(a) Nancy's.
(b) Rita's.
(c) Evelyn's.
(d) Marcia's.

78. Where do Hank, Lou, and Jacob go after leaving the bar in Chapter Six?
(a) Lou's house.
(b) Jacob's house.
(c) Hank's house.
(d) Hank's garage.

79. Jacob offers to play the role of ____________when he and Hank record Lou's
confession in Chapter Six.
(a) Sarah.
(b) Sonny.
(c) The FBI.
(d) Carl.

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80. Hank tells Lou they aren't going to divide the money until what season in
Chapter Six?
(a) Spring.
(b) Summer.
(c) Fall.
(d) Winter.

81. Whom does Lou point a shotgun at in Chapter Six?

(a) Carl.
(b) Nancy.
(c) Jacob.
(d) Hank.

82. Who comes downstairs and tries to convince Lou to put away his gun in
Chapter Six?
(a) Sarah.
(b) Hank.
(c) Nancy.
(d) Jacob.

83. Who kills Lou in Chapter Six?

(a) Jacob.
(b) Carl.
(c) Nancy.
(d) Hank.

84. Who kills Nancy in Chapter Six?

(a) Carl.
(b) Sarah.
(c) Sonny.
(d) Hank.

85. Whom does Hank call from Lou's house in Chapter Six?
(a) Sarah.
(b) Carl.
(c) Vernon.
(d) Sonny.

86. Hank decides to stage a scene with ___________ and Nancy in bed in Chapter
Six.
(a) Vernon.
(b) Jacob.
(c) Carl.
(d) Sonny.

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87. How many people are shot in Chapter Six?
(a) 10.
(b) 4.
(c) 7.
(d) 2.

88. Whom does Hank tell to go to his truck and to call the police on the CB in
Chapter Six?
(a) Carl.
(b) Sarah.
(c) Nancy.
(d) Jacob.

89. Who shoots Jacob in Chapter Six?

(a) Sarah.
(b) Hank.
(c) Sonny.
(d) Nancy.

90. Where does Hank go to turn off the lights in the end of Chapter Six?
(a) Lou's.
(b) Jacob's.
(c) Sonny's.
(d) Carl's.

Chapters Seven and Eight

91. Where does Jacob undergo surgery in Chapter Seven?
(a) Douglas Medical Center.
(b) Diamond Medical Center.
(c) Donnovan Medical Center.
(d) Delphia Medical Center.

92. Who asks Hank questions at the hospital in Chapter Seven?

(a) Carl.
(b) Diana.
(c) Sonny.
(d) Sarah.

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93. In Chapter Seven, Hank tells Sarah that despite everything Jacob is his
brother, and he doesn't want ______.
(a) Him to die alone.
(b) Him to be unhappy.
(c) Him to die.
(d) Him to go to jail.

94. In Chapter Seven, Sarah says that if Jacob recovers, both she and Hank will
_____.
(a) Have to kill him.
(b) Go to jail.
(c) Have less money.
(d) Need to commit suicide.

95. In Chapter Seven, Hank awakens to hearing the phone ring and Sarah tells
him that ________.
(a) Jacob is alive.
(b) Jacob died.
(c) The police know about the money.
(d) The plane was found.

96. How many funerals does Hank attend in Chapter Eight?

(a) 1.
(b) 4.
(c) 2.
(d) 3.

97. The story emerges that who had been belligerent on the night of the murders
in Chapter Eight?
(a) Jacob.
(b) Lou.
(c) Hank.
(d) Carl.

98. Who suspected Nancy had been having an affair in Chapter Eight?
(a) Lou.
(b) A coworker.
(c) Carl.
(d) Sarah.

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99. Whose apartment does Hank go to in order to removing the belongings in
Chapter Eight?
(a) Jacob's.
(b) Sonny's.
(c) Carl's.
(d) Lou's.

100. What does Hank discover inside a trunk in Chapter Eight?

(a) An old yearbook.
(b) A gun.
(c) A farming manual.
(d) Banking records.

101. What tool does Hank discover inside a trunk in Chapter Eight?
(a) A machete.
(b) A hammer.
(c) A ratchet.
(d) A wrench.

102. Where does Hank pack the trunk in Chapter Eight?

(a) His bedroom.
(b) The attic.
(c) His station wagon.
(d) The garage.

103. To what does Hank sell Jacob's truck in Chapter Eight?

(a) A moving company.
(b) The feed store.
(c) A used car lot.
(d) A church.

104. What does Carl ask Hank if he'd sell him in Chapter Eight?
(a) Hank's rifle.
(b) Jacob's rifle.
(c) Sonny's pistol.
(d) Pete's shotgun.

105. How much does Carl offer Hank for a gun in Chapter Eight?
(a) $250.
(b) $500.
(c) $200.
(d) $400.

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106. How much money does Hank take for the gun in Chapter Eight?
(a) $100.
(b) $75.
(c) $300.
(d) $250.

107. What girl is described as having been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in
Chapter Eight?
(a) Annette Robinson.
(b) Melody Smith.
(c) Sophia Johnson.
(d) Alice McMartin.

108. How old was the girl who had been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in
Chapter Eight?
(a) 17.
(b) 12.
(c) 14.
(d) 15.

109. The kidnappers from the news articles in Chapter Eight disguised
themselves as ___________.
(a) Priests.
(b) Ex-presidents.
(c) Police officers.
(d) Jazz musicians.

110. How many people were killed in the house during the kidnapping described
in the newspaper in Chapter Eight?
(a) 12.
(b) 3.
(c) 2.
(d) 6.

111. How much ransom money had the kidnappers demanded from the girl's
father in Chapter Eight?
(a) $5 million.
(b) $4.8 million.
(c) $8 million.
(d) $2.8 million.

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112. What had been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the
articles in Chapter Eight?
(a) The plane.
(b) Alice's jewelry.
(c) Alice's clothes.
(d) Alice's body.

113. What had not been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the
articles in Chapter Eight?
(a) Alice's body.
(b) The plane.
(c) Alice's jewelry.
(d) The money.

114. Who is the older of two brothers who kidnapped and killed a girl described in
the newspaper in Chapter Eight?
(a) Malcolm Bokovsky.
(b) Stephen Bokovsky.
(c) Vernon Bokovsky.
(d) David Bokovsky.

115. Who is the younger of the two brothers who had kidnapped and killed a girl
described in the newspaper in Chapter Eight?
(a) David Bokovsky.
(b) Vernon Bokovsky.
(c) Malcolm Bokovsky.
(d) Stephen Bokovsky.

116. What happened to the pilot's face in the airplane, according to Hank in
Chapter Eight?
(a) It was pecked away by crows.
(b) It was consumed by maggots.
(c) It was burned.
(d) It was badly cut by shrapnel.

117. Whom does Hank realize the money belongs to in Chapter Eight?
(a) Vernon Bokovsky.
(b) Alice McMartin's father.
(c) Malcolm Bokovsky.
(d) Alice McMartin's uncle.

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118. What does Hank buy for Sarah's birthday in Chapter Eight?
(a) A horse.
(b) Jewelry.
(c) A car.
(d) A piano.

119. Where does Hank purchase a condo in Chapter Eight?

(a) Miami, Florida.
(b) Palm Beach, Florida.
(c) Key West, Florida.
(d) Fort Myers, Florida.

120. How much does Hank bid for a condo in Chapter Eight?
(a) $75,000.
(b) $25,000.
(c) $31,000.
(d) $42,000.

Chapters Nine and Ten

121. What causes the outlines of the graves across the street from Hank's office
to be obliterated in Chapter Nine?
(a) A tornado.
(b) Fog.
(c) Snow.
(d) Wind.

122. Where does Carl ask Hank to come on the phone in Chapter Nine?
(a) His car.
(b) His garage.
(c) His office.
(d) His home.

123. What FBI Agent does Hank meet in Chapter Nine?

(a) Agent John Bernard.
(b) Agent Neal Baxter.
(c) Agent Paul Boyers.
(d) Agent Mark Botwin.

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124. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says he is looking for ____________.
(a) The truth.
(b) A downed plane.
(c) A body.
(d) A murderer.

125. Where does the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine say an armored car was robbed?
(a) Smithson's Pharmacy.
(b) Grey Hawk Casino.
(c) Johnson's Department Store.
(d) Chicago Federal Reserve Bank.

126. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says that the armored car robbery case went
cold until one of the suspects recently committed what crime?
(a) Robbed another bank.
(b) Raped a girlfriend.
(c) Killed a man.
(d) Stabbed a police officer.

127. Where does Carl want Hank to take him and the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine?
(a) His favorite fishing spot.
(b) Where he heard the plane crash.
(c) Where he last saw Lou.
(d) Where he last saw Carl.

128. When does Hank plan on meeting Carl and the FBI Agent the next day in
Chapter Nine?
(a) 12 p.m.
(b) 6 p.m.
(c) 9 a.m.
(d) 10 a.m.

129. Hank admits the FBI Agent might be __________after reviewing the
newspaper clippings in Chapter Nine.
(a) David Bokovsky.
(b) Stephen Bokovsky.
(c) Malcolm Bokovsky.
(d) Vernon Bokovsky.

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130. Who states that the kidnapping made sense but that the FBI Agent's story
does not in Chapter Nine?
(a) Carl.
(b) Lou.
(c) Sarah.
(d) Jacob.

131. Hank states in Chapter Nine that if he takes the FBI Agent to the plane, he
must __________.
(a) Return the money.
(b) Kill him.
(c) Leave town.
(d) Confess.

132. Hank realizes that if the FBI Agent is actually the kidnapper, he will kill whom
in Chapter Nine?
(a) Jacob.
(b) Him.
(c) Carl.
(d) Sarah.

133. In the middle of the night in Chapter Nine, Hank briefly realizes that the
simplest action for him now would be to do what?
(a) Confess.
(b) Kill himself.
(c) Take the money and leave.
(d) Lie to the FBI.

134. What does Hank tell Sarah he should have done when finding the money in
Chapter Nine?
(a) Left it alone.
(b) Gave it away.
(c) Burned it.
(d) Turned it in.

135. In Chapter Ten, Hank arrives early at Carl's office and tells him that he has to
go where before going out to the place?
(a) The police station.
(b) Home.
(c) The store.
(d) His office.

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136. What does Hank ask to borrow from Carl in Chapter Ten?
(a) A ladder.
(b) A gun.
(c) A chainsaw.
(d) His car.

137. What does Hank tell Carl he's going to have to do with Jacob's dog in
Chapter Ten?
(a) Sell it.
(b) Train it.
(c) Shoot it.
(d) Tie it up.

138. What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in
Chapter Ten?
(a) "Hey Vernon."
(b) "Good luck."
(c) "Good afternoon."
(d) "Hello there."

139. Sarah been on the phone with whom when Hank calls her in Chapter Ten?
(a) Agent Baxter.
(b) Carl.
(c) Sonny.
(d) Jacob.

140. What does Hank tell Sarah he has available to protect himself if the FBI
Agent turns out to be a kidnapper in Chapter Ten?
(a) A stun gun.
(b) A knife.
(c) His wits.
(d) Carl's gun.

141. Why does Hank tell Carl he has to go home in Chapter Ten?
(a) He is expecting company.
(b) He has a fever.
(c) His dog died.
(d) Amanda is sick.

142. What is the name of the county whose sheriff calls Hank in Chapter Ten?
(a) Forest County.
(b) Freemont County.
(c) Fulton County.
(d) Ferris County.

109
143. What is the name of the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten?
(a) Sheriff Swanson.
(b) Sheriff McKellroy.
(c) Sheriff Peterson.
(d) Sheriff Jacobs.

144. What does the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten tell him?
(a) They found his wallet.
(b) Jacob is missing.
(c) Carl was murdered.
(d) He is under arrest.

145. Whom did Vernon Bokovsky kidnap and murder?

(a) Heidi Benton.
(b) Alice McMartin.
(c) Sophie Marvin.
(d) Marsha Holmes.

146. The sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten tells him he needs Hank to identify
whom?
(a) Carl's wife.
(b) Carl's brother.
(c) The man who left with Carl.
(d) All of Carl's friends.

147. In what town does Hank work?

(a) Akron, Ohio.
(b) Ashenville, Ohio.
(c) Auburn, Ohio.
(d) Africa, Ohio.

148. What is the name of the subdivision where Hank and Sarah live?
(a) Fort Ottowa.
(b) Mount Chippewa.
(c) Creekside Gardens.
(d) Arbor Pointe.

149. What is the name of the store where Hank works?

(a) Richardson's Feed Store.
(b) Raikley's Feed Store.
(c) Raymond's Feed Store.
(d) Ridgemont Feed Store.

110
150. What does Hank do to help him decide whether to go with Carl and the FBI
Agent in Chapter Ten?
(a) Flips a coin.
(b) Calls a psychic.
(c) Draws a card from a deck.
(d) Shakes a magic eight ball.

Chapters Eleven and Twelve

151. What is the name of the officer who takes Hank's statement in Chapter
Eleven?
(a) Collins.
(b) Carter.
(c) Cartwright.
(d) Connor.

152. Who had found Carl's body in Chapter Eleven?

(a) Carl's son.
(b) Carl's brother.
(c) Carl's wife.
(d) Carl's sister.

153. Where had Carl's body been found in Chapter Eleven?

(a) Near the plane.
(b) His car.
(c) His home.
(d) His office.

154. When had the armored car robbery taken place, according to the FBI Agent?
(a) July.
(b) September.
(c) June.
(d) October.

155. How long does Hank stay waiting at the police station in Chapter Eleven?
(a) 2 hours.
(b) 30 minutes.
(c) An hour.
(d) 45 minutes.

111
156. How does Sarah feel about the FBI Agent's being killed in Chapter Eleven?
(a) Sad.
(b) Relieved.
(c) Confused.
(d) Terrified.

157. Where is Baxter's body found in Chapter Eleven?

(a) An alley.
(b) Floating in a river.
(c) A tollbooth at the Ohio Turnpike.
(d) A parking garage.

158. Who did Baxter turn out to be in Chapter Eleven?

(a) Stephen Bokovsky.
(b) Malcolm Bokovsky.
(c) David Bokovsky.
(d) Vernon Bokovsky.

159. What do the FBI Agents in Chapter Eleven show Hank in their office?
(a) A newspaper article.
(b) A weather report.
(c) Pictures of the plane.
(d) The bag of money.

160. How much money does the FBI Agent in Chapter Eleven tell Hank the
kidnappers demanded?
(a) $7.5 million.
(b) $10 million.
(c) $2 million.
(d) $4.8 million.

161. How much money does the FBI Agent in Chapter Eleven tell Hank is in the
bag?
(a) $250,000.
(b) $300,000.
(c) $425,000.
(d) $500,000.

162. What part of the serial numbers did the FBI record of the money in Chapter
Eleven?
(a) One fifth.
(b) One fourth.
(c) One half.
(d) One tenth.

112
163. What did Sarah buy with one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?
(a) Lingerie.
(b) Scotch.
(c) Beer.
(d) Champagne.

164. Where is the store where Sarah spent one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?
(a) Next to a used car lot.
(b) Downtown.
(c) On the same road as her home.
(d) Near the airport.

165. What is the name of the store where Sarah spent one of the bills in Chapter
Eleven?
(a) Alexander's.
(b) Robertson's.
(c) Wellington's.
(d) Worthington's.

166. Whom did Sarah have with her when she spent one of the bills in Chapter
Eleven?
(a) Vernon.
(b) Hank.
(c) Carl.
(d) Amanda.

167. Whom does Hank call after talking with Sarah on the phone in Chapter
Eleven?
(a) The FBI.
(b) Alexander's.
(c) The CIA.
(d) Carl.

168. How much time does Hank have before the liquor store closes in Chapter
Eleven?
(a) 45 minutes.
(b) An hour.
(c) 2 hours.
(d) 20 minutes.

113
169. Hank tells the police he encountered a hitchhiker with ___________in
Chapter Eleven.
(a) A gun.
(b) A machete.
(c) A duffel bag.
(d) A dog.

170. What does Hank tell the police the hitchhiker talked about doing in Chapter
Eleven?
(a) Running away from home.
(b) Hijacking a plane.
(c) Killing someone.
(d) Setting fire to a house.

171. Where does Hank tell the police on the phone he is from in Chapter Eleven?
(a) Florida.
(b) Mississippi.
(c) Georgia.
(d) Kentucky.

172. Where does Hank tell the police on the phone he dropped off a hitchhiker in
Chapter Eleven?
(a) At the bus stop.
(b) Near the airport.
(c) In a park.
(d) At the train station.

173. What does Hank put on in the back of the store in Chapter Twelve?
(a) A trenchcoat.
(b) Hunting boots.
(c) A sombrero.
(d) A ski mask.

174. What does Hank take from the trunk in his car before entering the store in
Chapter Twelve?
(a) A backpack.
(b) A machete.
(c) A gun.
(d) His wallet.

114
175. What does the store clerk grab for protection in Chapter Twelve?
(a) A corkscrew.
(b) A knife.
(c) A shotgun.
(d) A wine bottle.

176. How old is the woman who arrives at the store when Hank is trying to clean
up in Chapter Twelve?
(a) 50s.
(b) 60s.
(c) 40s.
(d) 70s.

177. The customer who arrives at the store as Hank is cleaning up in Chapter
Twelve is wearing __________.
(a) A fur coat.
(b) Spandex.
(c) A leather jacket.
(d) An army uniform.

178. What does Hank do to the customer who arrives as he's trying to clean up
and leave the store in Chapter Twelve?
(a) Locks her in a cooler.
(b) Ties her up.
(c) Knocks her out.
(d) Kills her.

179. What do Hank and Sarah do with the money in Chapter Twelve?
(a) Scatter it in the street.
(b) Spend it all.
(c) Burn it.
(d) Donate it to charity.

180. What do Sarah and Hank name their son in Chapter Twelve?
(a) Jacob.
(b) Paul.
(c) Baxter.
(d) Lou.

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Multiple Choice Key
1. A 11. B 21. C 31. D 41. A 51. D
2. B 12. A 22. D 32. D 42. B 52. C
3. A 13. C 23. B 33. A 43. A 53. D
4. D 14. A 24. A 34. A 44. A 54. C
5. C 15. B 25. D 35. B 45. C 55. D
6. A 16. A 26. D 36. A 46. A 56. C
7. D 17. D 27. A 37. C 47. A 57. A
8. C 18. A 28. C 38. D 48. B 58. A
9. B 19. D 29. D 39. A 49. D 59. C
10. D 20. C 30. B 40. A 50. C 60. B

61. D 71. A 81. D 91. D 101. A 111. B

62. C 72. C 82. C 92. A 102. C 112. D
63. A 73. C 83. A 93. C 103. B 113. D
64. D 74. D 84. D 94. B 104. B 114. C
65. B 75. C 85. A 95. B 105. D 115. D
66. A 76. B 86. D 96. B 106. C 116. A
67. C 77. A 87. B 97. B 107. D 117. B
68. B 78. A 88. D 98. B 108. A 118. D
69. B 79. D 89. B 99. A 109. C 119. D
70. C 80. B 90. C 100. C 110. D 120. C

121. C 131. A 141. D 151. A 161. D 171. A

122. C 132. C 142. C 152. C 162. D 172. B
123. B 133. C 143. B 153. A 163. D 173. D
124. B 134. D 144. C 154. A 164. D 174. B
125. D 135. D 145. B 155. C 165. A 175. D
126. B 136. B 146. C 156. B 166. D 176. B
127. B 137. C 147. B 157. C 167. B 177. A
128. C 138. A 148. A 158. D 168. B 178. D
129. D 139. A 149. B 159. D 169. B 179. C
130. C 140. D 150. A 160. D 170. B 180. A

116
Short Answer Questions
1. Hank's parents were killed how long after he was married?

2. How were Hank's parents killed?

3. What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

4. To whom had Hank's father given his pickup truck before he died?

5. Where does Jacob Mitchell live?

6. Jacob Mitchell lives above what establishment?

7. In what year does Chapter One begin?

117
8. What is the name of Jacob's dog?

9. What is the predominant breed of Jacob's dog?

10. What does Jacob's dog run in pursuit of in Chapter One?

11. What does Jacob crash into in Chapter One?

12. Where does Jacob's dog run after he crashes in Chapter One?

13. How many bullets does Jacob put into his rifle in Chapter One?

14. What strikes Hank in the forehead in its effort to escape the plane in Chapter One?

118
15. What does Hank bring with him from the plane in Chapter One?

16. Hank, Lou, and Jacob reason that the plane must have been there for at least how
many days, based on the snowfall in Chapter One?

17. While discussing what to do with the money in Chapter One, Hank concludes that to
take it would be _______.

18. What is Hank's profession?

19. Where did Hank attend college?

20. How much money does Hank estimate to be in the bag in Chapter One?

21. In Chapter One, Hank decides to keep the money for how long before splitting it to
see if it is claimed?

119
22. What is the name of Lou's girlfriend?

23. What is the name of Hank's wife?

24. How long is the hike back to Hank's truck in Chapter Two?

25. For how long has Carl been the town's police officer?

26. What is Carl's last name?

27. Where does Hank tell Carl he was heading in Chapter Two?

28. Who asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane" in Chapter Two?

120
29. What does Hank say he will do if there's any indication that he's going to be caught
as an accomplice to the theft they've committed in Chapter Two?

30. How many months pregnant is Hank's wife in Chapter Two?

31. Where is Hank's wife when he awakens in Chapter Three?

32. How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their financial
situation?

33. Why does Hank return to the bedroom when he goes to take a shower in Chapter
Three?

34. What does Hank find his wife doing when he returns to the bedroom in Chapter
Three?

35. Whom does Hank call to say that they have to return to the plane to be certain they
didn't overlook anything in Chapter Three?

121
36. In Chapter Three, Hank hides the money he plans to leave in the plane inside what
object?

37. Who remains in the car while Hank hikes to the plane in Chapter Three?

38. Where does Hank stuff the money in the plane in Chapter Three?

39. When Hank returns to the car, whom does he see on a snowmobile in Chapter
Three?

40. Who strikes the man on the snowmobile in Chapter Three?

41. What was the man on the snowmobile searching for in Chapter Three?

42. How does Hank intend to make Jacob's murder look like an accident in Chapter
Three?

122
43. What does Hank smother Penderson with in Chapter Three?

44. Who cries over the murder in Chapter Three?

45. Why does Hank awaken and realize their tracks will be covered in Chapter Three?

46. Whom does Jacob suggest that he and Hank tell about Penderson in Chapter
Three?

47. Where is Penderson buried in Chapter Four?

48. Whom does Sarah say she ran into at the supermarket in Chapter Four?

49. Who does Hank say murdered Penderson in Chapter Four?

123
50. What does Sarah suggest they do with the money in Chapter Four?

51. Jacob appears at the feed store demanding that the clerk do what in Chapter Four?

52. Hank reminds Jacob that he's responsible for whose actions in Chapter Four?

53. What does Sarah respond when Hank asks her if his actions scare her in Chapter
Four?

54. Where does Jacob take Hank in Chapter Four?

55. What does Jacob tell Hank he intends to buy in Chapter Four?

56. What does Hank tell Jacob they will have to do to keep from prompting questions
about the source of the money in Chapter Four?

124
57. Jacob intends to tell people that __________has inherited a large sum of money in
Chapter Four.

58. Who is Lou's landlord?

59. Lou threatens to tell the police about ________ if Hank doesn't give him his share of
the money in Chapter Four.

60. How much money does Hank give Lou from his own wallet in Chapter Four?

61. What is the name of Hank's baby in Chapter Five?

62. Sarah and the baby come home how many days after childbirth in Chapter Five?

63. What gift does Jacob bring Sarah and the baby in Chapter Five?

125
64. How much money does Jacob ask to borrow for his rent in Chapter Five?

65. What song does Jacob's gift to Sarah and the baby play in Chapter Five?

66. Who suggests that Hank should get Lou to confess to Penderson's murder in
Chapter Five?

67. What does Hank purchase in order to carry out his plans for Lou in Chapter Five?

68. Where do Hank and Jacob go together in Chapter Five?

69. What does Jacob say he believes their parents did to escape their debts in Chapter
Five?

70. What is Sarah making for supper when Hank and Jacob return in Chapter Five?

126
71. What beverage do Hank and Jacob overindulge on in Chapter Five?

72. In Chapter Five, Jacob tells Hank he'll help with Lou if Hank will help Jacob do
what?

73. What board game do Hank and Jacob play in Chapter Five?

74. What does Sarah suggest they use while playing a board game in Chapter Five?

75. What bar do Hank, Lou, and Jacob go to in Chapter Six?

76. How much debt does Lou tell Hank he has in Chapter Six?

77. Whose savings does Lou say he's spent in Chapter Six?

127
78. Where do Hank, Lou, and Jacob go after leaving the bar in Chapter Six?

79. Jacob offers to play the role of ____________when he and Hank record Lou's
confession in Chapter Six.

80. Hank tells Lou they aren't going to divide the money until what season in Chapter
Six?

81. Whom does Lou point a shotgun at in Chapter Six?

82. Who comes downstairs and tries to convince Lou to put away his gun in Chapter
Six?

83. Who kills Lou in Chapter Six?

84. Who kills Nancy in Chapter Six?

128
85. Whom does Hank call from Lou's house in Chapter Six?

86. Hank decides to stage a scene with ___________ and Nancy in bed in Chapter Six.

87. How many people are shot in Chapter Six?

88. Whom does Hank tell to go to his truck and to call the police on the CB in Chapter
Six?

89. Who shoots Jacob in Chapter Six?

90. Where does Hank go to turn off the lights in the end of Chapter Six?

91. Where does Jacob undergo surgery in Chapter Seven?

129
92. Who asks Hank questions at the hospital in Chapter Seven?

93. In Chapter Seven, Hank tells Sarah that despite everything Jacob is his brother, and
he doesn't want ______.

94. In Chapter Seven, Sarah says that if Jacob recovers, both she and Hank will _____.

95. In Chapter Seven, Hank awakens to hearing the phone ring and Sarah tells him that
________.

96. How many funerals does Hank attend in Chapter Eight?

97. The story emerges that who had been belligerent on the night of the murders in
Chapter Eight?

98. Who suspected Nancy had been having an affair in Chapter Eight?

130
99. Whose apartment does Hank go to in order to removing the belongings in Chapter
Eight?

100. What does Hank discover inside a trunk in Chapter Eight?

101. What tool does Hank discover inside a trunk in Chapter Eight?

102. Where does Hank pack the trunk in Chapter Eight?

103. To what does Hank sell Jacob's truck in Chapter Eight?

104. What does Carl ask Hank if he'd sell him in Chapter Eight?

105. How much does Carl offer Hank for a gun in Chapter Eight?

131
106. How much money does Hank take for the gun in Chapter Eight?

107. What girl is described as having been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in
Chapter Eight?

108. How old was the girl who had been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in Chapter
Eight?

109. The kidnappers from the news articles in Chapter Eight disguised themselves as
___________.

110. How many people were killed in the house during the kidnapping described in the
newspaper in Chapter Eight?

111. How much ransom money had the kidnappers demanded from the girl's father in
Chapter Eight?

132
112. What had been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the articles in
Chapter Eight?

113. What had not been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the articles
in Chapter Eight?

114. Who is the older of two brothers who kidnapped and killed a girl described in the
newspaper in Chapter Eight?

115. Who is the younger of the two brothers who had kidnapped and killed a girl
described in the newspaper in Chapter Eight?

116. What happened to the pilot's face in the airplane, according to Hank in Chapter
Eight?

117. Whom does Hank realize the money belongs to in Chapter Eight?

118. What does Hank buy for Sarah's birthday in Chapter Eight?

133
119. Where does Hank purchase a condo in Chapter Eight?

120. How much does Hank bid for a condo in Chapter Eight?

121. What causes the outlines of the graves across the street from Hank's office to be
obliterated in Chapter Nine?

122. Where does Carl ask Hank to come on the phone in Chapter Nine?

123. What FBI Agent does Hank meet in Chapter Nine?

124. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says he is looking for ____________.

125. Where does the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine say an armored car was robbed?

134
126. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says that the armored car robbery case went cold
until one of the suspects recently committed what crime?

127. Where does Carl want Hank to take him and the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine?

128. When does Hank plan on meeting Carl and the FBI Agent the next day in Chapter
Nine?

129. Hank admits the FBI Agent might be __________after reviewing the newspaper
clippings in Chapter Nine.

130. Who states that the kidnapping made sense but that the FBI Agent's story does not
in Chapter Nine?

131. Hank states in Chapter Nine that if he takes the FBI Agent to the plane, he must
__________.

135
132. Hank realizes that if the FBI Agent is actually the kidnapper, he will kill whom in
Chapter Nine?

133. In the middle of the night in Chapter Nine, Hank briefly realizes that the simplest
action for him now would be to do what?

134. What does Hank tell Sarah he should have done when finding the money in
Chapter Nine?

135. In Chapter Ten, Hank arrives early at Carl's office and tells him that he has to go
where before going out to the place?

136. What does Hank ask to borrow from Carl in Chapter Ten?

137. What does Hank tell Carl he's going to have to do with Jacob's dog in Chapter
Ten?

136
138. What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in Chapter
Ten?

139. Sarah been on the phone with whom when Hank calls her in Chapter Ten?

140. What does Hank tell Sarah he has available to protect himself if the FBI Agent
turns out to be a kidnapper in Chapter Ten?

141. Why does Hank tell Carl he has to go home in Chapter Ten?

142. What is the name of the county whose sheriff calls Hank in Chapter Ten?

143. What is the name of the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten?

144. What does the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten tell him?

137
145. Whom did Vernon Bokovsky kidnap and murder?

146. The sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten tells him he needs Hank to identify
whom?

147. In what town does Hank work?

148. What is the name of the subdivision where Hank and Sarah live?

149. What is the name of the store where Hank works?

150. What does Hank do to help him decide whether to go with Carl and the FBI Agent
in Chapter Ten?

151. What is the name of the officer who takes Hank's statement in Chapter Eleven?

138
152. Who had found Carl's body in Chapter Eleven?

153. Where had Carl's body been found in Chapter Eleven?

154. When had the armored car robbery taken place, according to the FBI Agent?

155. How long does Hank stay waiting at the police station in Chapter Eleven?

156. How does Sarah feel about the FBI Agent's being killed in Chapter Eleven?

157. Where is Baxter's body found in Chapter Eleven?

158. Who did Baxter turn out to be in Chapter Eleven?

139
159. What do the FBI Agents in Chapter Eleven show Hank in their office?

160. How much money does the FBI Agent in Chapter Eleven tell Hank the kidnappers
demanded?

161. How much money does the FBI Agent in Chapter Eleven tell Hank is in the bag?

162. What part of the serial numbers did the FBI record of the money in Chapter
Eleven?

163. What did Sarah buy with one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?

164. Where is the store where Sarah spent one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?

165. What is the name of the store where Sarah spent one of the bills in Chapter
Eleven?

140
166. Whom did Sarah have with her when she spent one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?

167. Whom does Hank call after talking with Sarah on the phone in Chapter Eleven?

168. How much time does Hank have before the liquor store closes in Chapter Eleven?

169. Hank tells the police he encountered a hitchhiker with ___________in Chapter
Eleven.

170. What does Hank tell the police the hitchhiker talked about doing in Chapter
Eleven?

171. Where does Hank tell the police on the phone he is from in Chapter Eleven?

172. Where does Hank tell the police on the phone he dropped off a hitchhiker in
Chapter Eleven?

141
173. What does Hank put on in the back of the store in Chapter Twelve?

174. What does Hank take from the trunk in his car before entering the store in Chapter
Twelve?

175. What does the store clerk grab for protection in Chapter Twelve?

176. How old is the woman who arrives at the store when Hank is trying to clean up in
Chapter Twelve?

177. The customer who arrives at the store as Hank is cleaning up in Chapter Twelve is
wearing __________.

178. What does Hank do to the customer who arrives as he's trying to clean up and
leave the store in Chapter Twelve?

179. What do Hank and Sarah do with the money in Chapter Twelve?

142
180. What do Sarah and Hank name their son in Chapter Twelve?

143
Short Answer Questions Key
1. Hank's parents were killed how long after he was married?

1 year.

2. How were Hank's parents killed?

Automobile accident.

3. What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

Furniture.

4. To whom had Hank's father given his pickup truck before he died?

Jacob.

5. Where does Jacob Mitchell live?

Ashenville, Ohio.

6. Jacob Mitchell lives above what establishment?

A hardware store.

7. In what year does Chapter One begin?

1987.

144
8. What is the name of Jacob's dog?

Mary Beth.

9. What is the predominant breed of Jacob's dog?

German Shepherd.

10. What does Jacob's dog run in pursuit of in Chapter One?

A fox.

11. What does Jacob crash into in Chapter One?

A snowbank.

12. Where does Jacob's dog run after he crashes in Chapter One?

Anders Nature Preserve.

13. How many bullets does Jacob put into his rifle in Chapter One?

One.

14. What strikes Hank in the forehead in its effort to escape the plane in Chapter
One?

A crow.

145
15. What does Hank bring with him from the plane in Chapter One?

A duffel bag.

16. Hank, Lou, and Jacob reason that the plane must have been there for at least
how many days, based on the snowfall in Chapter One?

2 days.

17. While discussing what to do with the money in Chapter One, Hank concludes
that to take it would be _______.

Theft.

18. What is Hank's profession?

Accountant.

19. Where did Hank attend college?

University of Toledo.

20. How much money does Hank estimate to be in the bag in Chapter One?

$3 million.

21. In Chapter One, Hank decides to keep the money for how long before splitting
it to see if it is claimed?

6 months.

146
22. What is the name of Lou's girlfriend?

Nancy.

23. What is the name of Hank's wife?

Sarah.

24. How long is the hike back to Hank's truck in Chapter Two?

1/2 mile.

25. For how long has Carl been the town's police officer?

40 years.

26. What is Carl's last name?

Jenkins.

27. Where does Hank tell Carl he was heading in Chapter Two?

The cemetery.

28. Who asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane" in Chapter Two?

Jacob.

147
29. What does Hank say he will do if there's any indication that he's going to be
caught as an accomplice to the theft they've committed in Chapter Two?

Burn the money.

30. How many months pregnant is Hank's wife in Chapter Two?

8.

31. Where is Hank's wife when he awakens in Chapter Three?

The shower.

32. How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their
financial situation?

2 days.

33. Why does Hank return to the bedroom when he goes to take a shower in
Chapter Three?

No towels.

34. What does Hank find his wife doing when he returns to the bedroom in
Chapter Three?

Counting the money.

35. Whom does Hank call to say that they have to return to the plane to be certain
they didn't overlook anything in Chapter Three?

Jacob.

148
36. In Chapter Three, Hank hides the money he plans to leave in the plane inside
what object?

A baby carryall.

37. Who remains in the car while Hank hikes to the plane in Chapter Three?

Jacob.

38. Where does Hank stuff the money in the plane in Chapter Three?

Under the pilot's feet.

39. When Hank returns to the car, whom does he see on a snowmobile in Chapter
Three?

Dwight Penderson.

40. Who strikes the man on the snowmobile in Chapter Three?

Jacob.

41. What was the man on the snowmobile searching for in Chapter Three?

The fox.

42. How does Hank intend to make Jacob's murder look like an accident in
Chapter Three?

Run the snowmobile off a ledge.

149
43. What does Hank smother Penderson with in Chapter Three?

His scarf.

44. Who cries over the murder in Chapter Three?

Jacob.

45. Why does Hank awaken and realize their tracks will be covered in Chapter
Three?

It snowed overnight.

46. Whom does Jacob suggest that he and Hank tell about Penderson in Chapter
Three?

Lou.

47. Where is Penderson buried in Chapter Four?

St. Jude's Episcopal Church.

48. Whom does Sarah say she ran into at the supermarket in Chapter Four?

Nancy.

49. Who does Hank say murdered Penderson in Chapter Four?

Jacob.

150
50. What does Sarah suggest they do with the money in Chapter Four?

Burn it.

51. Jacob appears at the feed store demanding that the clerk do what in Chapter
Four?

Cash a check.

52. Hank reminds Jacob that he's responsible for whose actions in Chapter Four?

Lou's.

53. What does Sarah respond when Hank asks her if his actions scare her in
Chapter Four?

"It's done."

54. Where does Jacob take Hank in Chapter Four?

Their childhood home.

55. What does Jacob tell Hank he intends to buy in Chapter Four?

The family farm.

56. What does Hank tell Jacob they will have to do to keep from prompting
questions about the source of the money in Chapter Four?

Leave the country.

151
57. Jacob intends to tell people that __________has inherited a large sum of
money in Chapter Four.

Sarah.

58. Who is Lou's landlord?

Sonny Major.

59. Lou threatens to tell the police about ________ if Hank doesn't give him his
share of the money in Chapter Four.

Penderson's murder.

60. How much money does Hank give Lou from his own wallet in Chapter Four?

$40.

61. What is the name of Hank's baby in Chapter Five?

Amanda.

62. Sarah and the baby come home how many days after childbirth in Chapter
Five?

4.

63. What gift does Jacob bring Sarah and the baby in Chapter Five?

A teddy bear.

152
64. How much money does Jacob ask to borrow for his rent in Chapter Five?

$150.

65. What song does Jacob's gift to Sarah and the baby play in Chapter Five?

"Frere Jacques."

66. Who suggests that Hank should get Lou to confess to Penderson's murder in
Chapter Five?

Sarah.

67. What does Hank purchase in order to carry out his plans for Lou in Chapter
Five?

A tape recorder.

68. Where do Hank and Jacob go together in Chapter Five?

The cemetery.

69. What does Jacob say he believes their parents did to escape their debts in
Chapter Five?

Committed suicide.

70. What is Sarah making for supper when Hank and Jacob return in Chapter
Five?

Lasagna.

153
71. What beverage do Hank and Jacob overindulge on in Chapter Five?

Wine.

72. In Chapter Five, Jacob tells Hank he'll help with Lou if Hank will help Jacob do
what?

Secure the farm.

73. What board game do Hank and Jacob play in Chapter Five?

Monopoly.

74. What does Sarah suggest they use while playing a board game in Chapter
Five?

Real money.

75. What bar do Hank, Lou, and Jacob go to in Chapter Six?

The Wrangler.

76. How much debt does Lou tell Hank he has in Chapter Six?

$17,000.

77. Whose savings does Lou say he's spent in Chapter Six?

Nancy's.

154
78. Where do Hank, Lou, and Jacob go after leaving the bar in Chapter Six?

Lou's house.

79. Jacob offers to play the role of ____________when he and Hank record Lou's
confession in Chapter Six.

Carl.

80. Hank tells Lou they aren't going to divide the money until what season in
Chapter Six?

Summer.

81. Whom does Lou point a shotgun at in Chapter Six?

Hank.

82. Who comes downstairs and tries to convince Lou to put away his gun in
Chapter Six?

Nancy.

83. Who kills Lou in Chapter Six?

Jacob.

84. Who kills Nancy in Chapter Six?

Hank.

155
85. Whom does Hank call from Lou's house in Chapter Six?

Sarah.

86. Hank decides to stage a scene with ___________ and Nancy in bed in Chapter
Six.

Sonny.

87. How many people are shot in Chapter Six?

4.

88. Whom does Hank tell to go to his truck and to call the police on the CB in
Chapter Six?

Jacob.

89. Who shoots Jacob in Chapter Six?

Hank.

90. Where does Hank go to turn off the lights in the end of Chapter Six?

Sonny's.

91. Where does Jacob undergo surgery in Chapter Seven?

Delphia Medical Center.

156
92. Who asks Hank questions at the hospital in Chapter Seven?

Carl.

93. In Chapter Seven, Hank tells Sarah that despite everything Jacob is his
brother, and he doesn't want ______.

Him to die.

94. In Chapter Seven, Sarah says that if Jacob recovers, both she and Hank will
_____.

Go to jail.

95. In Chapter Seven, Hank awakens to hearing the phone ring and Sarah tells
him that ________.

Jacob died.

96. How many funerals does Hank attend in Chapter Eight?

4.

97. The story emerges that who had been belligerent on the night of the murders
in Chapter Eight?

Lou.

98. Who suspected Nancy had been having an affair in Chapter Eight?

A coworker.

157
99. Whose apartment does Hank go to in order to removing the belongings in
Chapter Eight?

Jacob's.

100. What does Hank discover inside a trunk in Chapter Eight?

A farming manual.

101. What tool does Hank discover inside a trunk in Chapter Eight?

A machete.

102. Where does Hank pack the trunk in Chapter Eight?

His station wagon.

103. To what does Hank sell Jacob's truck in Chapter Eight?

The feed store.

104. What does Carl ask Hank if he'd sell him in Chapter Eight?

Jacob's rifle.

105. How much does Carl offer Hank for a gun in Chapter Eight?

$400.

158
106. How much money does Hank take for the gun in Chapter Eight?

$300.

107. What girl is described as having been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in
Chapter Eight?

Alice McMartin.

108. How old was the girl who had been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in
Chapter Eight?

17.

109. The kidnappers from the news articles in Chapter Eight disguised
themselves as ___________.

Police officers.

110. How many people were killed in the house during the kidnapping described
in the newspaper in Chapter Eight?

6.

111. How much ransom money had the kidnappers demanded from the girl's
father in Chapter Eight?

$4.8 million.

159
112. What had been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the
articles in Chapter Eight?

Alice's body.

113. What had not been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the
articles in Chapter Eight?

The money.

114. Who is the older of two brothers who kidnapped and killed a girl described in
the newspaper in Chapter Eight?

Vernon Bokovsky.

115. Who is the younger of the two brothers who had kidnapped and killed a girl
described in the newspaper in Chapter Eight?

Stephen Bokovsky.

116. What happened to the pilot's face in the airplane, according to Hank in
Chapter Eight?

It was pecked away by crows.

117. Whom does Hank realize the money belongs to in Chapter Eight?

Alice McMartin's father.

118. What does Hank buy for Sarah's birthday in Chapter Eight?

A piano.

160
119. Where does Hank purchase a condo in Chapter Eight?

Fort Myers, Florida.

120. How much does Hank bid for a condo in Chapter Eight?

$31,000.

121. What causes the outlines of the graves across the street from Hank's office
to be obliterated in Chapter Nine?

Snow.

122. Where does Carl ask Hank to come on the phone in Chapter Nine?

His office.

123. What FBI Agent does Hank meet in Chapter Nine?

Agent Neal Baxter.

124. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says he is looking for ____________.

A downed plane.

125. Where does the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine say an armored car was robbed?

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank.

161
126. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says that the armored car robbery case went
cold until one of the suspects recently committed what crime?

Raped a girlfriend.

127. Where does Carl want Hank to take him and the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine?

Where he heard the plane crash.

128. When does Hank plan on meeting Carl and the FBI Agent the next day in
Chapter Nine?

9 a.m.

129. Hank admits the FBI Agent might be __________after reviewing the
newspaper clippings in Chapter Nine.

Vernon Bokovsky.

130. Who states that the kidnapping made sense but that the FBI Agent's story
does not in Chapter Nine?

Sarah.

131. Hank states in Chapter Nine that if he takes the FBI Agent to the plane, he
must __________.

Return the money.

162
132. Hank realizes that if the FBI Agent is actually the kidnapper, he will kill whom
in Chapter Nine?

Carl.

133. In the middle of the night in Chapter Nine, Hank briefly realizes that the
simplest action for him now would be to do what?

Take the money and leave.

134. What does Hank tell Sarah he should have done when finding the money in
Chapter Nine?

Turned it in.

135. In Chapter Ten, Hank arrives early at Carl's office and tells him that he has to
go where before going out to the place?

His office.

136. What does Hank ask to borrow from Carl in Chapter Ten?

A gun.

137. What does Hank tell Carl he's going to have to do with Jacob's dog in
Chapter Ten?

Shoot it.

163
138. What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in
Chapter Ten?

"Hey Vernon."

139. Sarah been on the phone with whom when Hank calls her in Chapter Ten?

Agent Baxter.

140. What does Hank tell Sarah he has available to protect himself if the FBI
Agent turns out to be a kidnapper in Chapter Ten?

Carl's gun.

141. Why does Hank tell Carl he has to go home in Chapter Ten?

Amanda is sick.

142. What is the name of the county whose sheriff calls Hank in Chapter Ten?

Fulton County.

143. What is the name of the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten?

Sheriff McKellroy.

144. What does the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten tell him?

Carl was murdered.

164
145. Whom did Vernon Bokovsky kidnap and murder?

Alice McMartin.

146. The sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten tells him he needs Hank to identify
whom?

The man who left with Carl.

147. In what town does Hank work?

Ashenville, Ohio.

148. What is the name of the subdivision where Hank and Sarah live?

Fort Ottowa.

149. What is the name of the store where Hank works?

Raikley's Feed Store.

150. What does Hank do to help him decide whether to go with Carl and the FBI
Agent in Chapter Ten?

Flips a coin.

151. What is the name of the officer who takes Hank's statement in Chapter
Eleven?

Collins.

165
152. Who had found Carl's body in Chapter Eleven?

Carl's wife.

153. Where had Carl's body been found in Chapter Eleven?

Near the plane.

154. When had the armored car robbery taken place, according to the FBI Agent?

July.

155. How long does Hank stay waiting at the police station in Chapter Eleven?

An hour.

156. How does Sarah feel about the FBI Agent's being killed in Chapter Eleven?

Relieved.

157. Where is Baxter's body found in Chapter Eleven?

A tollbooth at the Ohio Turnpike.

158. Who did Baxter turn out to be in Chapter Eleven?

Vernon Bokovsky.

166
159. What do the FBI Agents in Chapter Eleven show Hank in their office?

The bag of money.

160. How much money does the FBI Agent in Chapter Eleven tell Hank the
kidnappers demanded?

$4.8 million.

161. How much money does the FBI Agent in Chapter Eleven tell Hank is in the
bag?

$500,000.

162. What part of the serial numbers did the FBI record of the money in Chapter
Eleven?

One tenth.

163. What did Sarah buy with one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?

Champagne.

164. Where is the store where Sarah spent one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?

Near the airport.

165. What is the name of the store where Sarah spent one of the bills in Chapter
Eleven?

Alexander's.

167
166. Whom did Sarah have with her when she spent one of the bills in Chapter
Eleven?

Amanda.

167. Whom does Hank call after talking with Sarah on the phone in Chapter
Eleven?

Alexander's.

168. How much time does Hank have before the liquor store closes in Chapter
Eleven?

An hour.

169. Hank tells the police he encountered a hitchhiker with ___________in

Chapter Eleven.

A machete.

170. What does Hank tell the police the hitchhiker talked about doing in Chapter
Eleven?

Hijacking a plane.

171. Where does Hank tell the police on the phone he is from in Chapter Eleven?

Florida.

168
172. Where does Hank tell the police on the phone he dropped off a hitchhiker in
Chapter Eleven?

Near the airport.

173. What does Hank put on in the back of the store in Chapter Twelve?

A ski mask.

174. What does Hank take from the trunk in his car before entering the store in
Chapter Twelve?

A machete.

175. What does the store clerk grab for protection in Chapter Twelve?

A wine bottle.

176. How old is the woman who arrives at the store when Hank is trying to clean
up in Chapter Twelve?

60s.

177. The customer who arrives at the store as Hank is cleaning up in Chapter
Twelve is wearing __________.

A fur coat.

178. What does Hank do to the customer who arrives as he's trying to clean up
and leave the store in Chapter Twelve?

Kills her.

169
179. What do Hank and Sarah do with the money in Chapter Twelve?

Burn it.

180. What do Sarah and Hank name their son in Chapter Twelve?

Jacob.

170
Oral Reading Evaluation Sheet
Name: _________________________ Period: _______________________

5 = Above Average 3 = Average 1 = Below Average

Audibility - Projecting your voice so your audience can hear and understand you.

5 4 3 2 1

Pronunciation - Ability to recognize words before you say them and pronounce all the
sounds correctly.

5 4 3 2 1

Articulation - Using your tongue, mouth and lips to pronounce all the sounds correctly.

5 4 3 2 1

Vocal Variety/Expression - Using appropriate pitch, volume and flow.

5 4 3 2 1

Rate - Reading a speed, or pace that is easy to follow.

5 4 3 2 1

Comments:

171
Reading Assignment Sheet
Name: _________________________ Period: _______________________

Reading Date Assigned Date Due Date Completed

Assignment

To Page: _____ __________ __________ __________

To Page: _____ __________ __________ __________

To Page: _____ __________ __________ __________

To Page: _____ __________ __________ __________

To Page: _____ __________ __________ __________

To Page: _____ __________ __________ __________

To Page: _____ __________ __________ __________

To Page: _____ __________ __________ __________

To Page: _____ __________ __________ __________

172
Writing Evaluation Form
Name: _________________________ Period: _______________________

5 = Above Average 3 = Average 1 = Below Average

Clear thesis or position Strong conclusion

5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1

Relevant supporting arguments Grammar

5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1

Transitions between paragraphs Spelling

5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1

Clarity of expression Punctuation

5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1

Comments:

173
One Week Quiz A
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Nine and Ten.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How much money does Hank give Lou from his own wallet in Chapter Four?
(a) $40.
(b) $100.
(c) $20.
(d) $50.

2. What does the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten tell him?
(a) Jacob is missing.
(b) He is under arrest.
(c) Carl was murdered.
(d) They found his wallet.

3. What does Hank tell Carl he's going to have to do with Jacob's dog in Chapter
Ten?
(a) Shoot it.
(b) Sell it.
(c) Train it.
(d) Tie it up.

4. Whom does Sarah say she ran into at the supermarket in Chapter Four?
(a) Carl.
(b) Lou.
(c) Sonny.
(d) Nancy.

5. Jacob appears at the feed store demanding that the clerk do what in Chapter
Four?
(a) Honor a coupon.
(b) Cash a check.
(c) Give him a discount.
(d) Load his vehicle.

174
Short Answer Questions
1. What does Hank ask to borrow from Carl in Chapter Ten?

2. Why does Hank tell Carl he has to go home in Chapter Ten?

3. What does Hank do to help him decide whether to go with Carl and the FBI Agent in
Chapter Ten?

4. What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in Chapter Ten?

5. In the middle of the night in Chapter Nine, Hank briefly realizes that the simplest
action for him now would be to do what?

175
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. A
2. C
3. A
4. D
5. B

Short Answer Questions Key

1. What does Hank ask to borrow from Carl in Chapter Ten?

A gun.

2. Why does Hank tell Carl he has to go home in Chapter Ten?

Amanda is sick.

3. What does Hank do to help him decide whether to go with Carl and the FBI
Agent in Chapter Ten?

Flips a coin.

4. What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in Chapter
Ten?

"Hey Vernon."

5. In the middle of the night in Chapter Nine, Hank briefly realizes that the
simplest action for him now would be to do what?

Take the money and leave.

176
Two Week Quiz A
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Seven and Eight.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How much money does Hank estimate to be in the bag in Chapter One?
(a) $10 million.
(b) $1 million.
(c) $5 million.
(d) $3 million.

2. What does Jacob tell Hank he intends to buy in Chapter Four?

(a) A fancy car.
(b) A new house.
(c) A boat.
(d) The family farm.

3. What had not been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the
articles in Chapter Eight?
(a) Alice's body.
(b) The money.
(c) The plane.
(d) Alice's jewelry.

4. Where is Hank's wife when he awakens in Chapter Three?

(a) The dentist.
(b) At church.
(c) The shower.
(d) Outside.

5. Who kills Nancy in Chapter Six?

(a) Sonny.
(b) Carl.
(c) Hank.
(d) Sarah.

177
Short Answer Questions
1. What does Jacob crash into in Chapter One?

2. Who strikes the man on the snowmobile in Chapter Three?

3. What had been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the articles in
Chapter Eight?

4. How many bullets does Jacob put into his rifle in Chapter One?

5. How much money does Hank take for the gun in Chapter Eight?

178
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. D
2. D
3. B
4. C
5. C

Short Answer Questions Key

1. What does Jacob crash into in Chapter One?

A snowbank.

2. Who strikes the man on the snowmobile in Chapter Three?

Jacob.

3. What had been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the articles
in Chapter Eight?

Alice's body.

4. How many bullets does Jacob put into his rifle in Chapter One?

One.

5. How much money does Hank take for the gun in Chapter Eight?

$300.

179
Four Week Quiz A
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Three and Four.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Whom does Jacob suggest that he and Hank tell about Penderson in Chapter
Three?
(a) Sarah.
(b) Lou.
(c) Nancy.
(d) Carl.

2. What strikes Hank in the forehead in its effort to escape the plane in Chapter
One?
(a) A crow.
(b) A squirrel.
(c) A cat.
(d) A fox.

3. Where is Hank's wife when he awakens in Chapter Three?

(a) Outside.
(b) The shower.
(c) At church.
(d) The dentist.

4. What was the man on the snowmobile searching for in Chapter Three?
(a) The fox.
(b) A stream.
(c) Deer.
(d) Another trail.

5. Who asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane" in Chapter Two?
(a) Sarah.
(b) Sonny.
(c) Jacob.
(d) Lou.

180
Short Answer Questions
1. Where is Penderson buried in Chapter Four?

2. Who is Lou's landlord?

3. What is the predominant breed of Jacob's dog?

4. Whom does Sarah say she ran into at the supermarket in Chapter Four?

5. What does Hank say he will do if there's any indication that he's going to be caught
as an accomplice to the theft they've committed in Chapter Two?

181
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. B
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. C

Short Answer Questions Key

1. Where is Penderson buried in Chapter Four?

St. Jude's Episcopal Church.

2. Who is Lou's landlord?

Sonny Major.

3. What is the predominant breed of Jacob's dog?

German Shepherd.

4. Whom does Sarah say she ran into at the supermarket in Chapter Four?

Nancy.

5. What does Hank say he will do if there's any indication that he's going to be
caught as an accomplice to the theft they've committed in Chapter Two?

Burn the money.

182
Four Week Quiz B
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Nine and Ten.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Whom does Sarah say she ran into at the supermarket in Chapter Four?
(a) Nancy.
(b) Carl.
(c) Sonny.
(d) Lou.

2. Who suggests that Hank should get Lou to confess to Penderson's murder in
Chapter Five?
(a) Jacob.
(b) Carl.
(c) Nancy.
(d) Sarah.

3. How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their
financial situation?
(a) 4 months.
(b) 3 weeks.
(c) 3 months.
(d) 2 days.

4. How were Hank's parents killed?

(a) Plane crash.
(b) Motorcycle accident.
(c) Boat accident.
(d) Automobile accident.

5. Why does Hank return to the bedroom when he goes to take a shower in
Chapter Three?
(a) He forgot underwear.
(b) To take off his shoes.
(c) There was no soap.
(d) No towels.

183
Short Answer Questions
1. The story emerges that who had been belligerent on the night of the murders in
Chapter Eight?

2. How old was the girl who had been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in Chapter
Eight?

3. How much ransom money had the kidnappers demanded from the girl's father in
Chapter Eight?

4. To what does Hank sell Jacob's truck in Chapter Eight?

5. What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

184
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. A
2. D
3. D
4. D
5. D

Short Answer Questions Key

1. The story emerges that who had been belligerent on the night of the murders in
Chapter Eight?

Lou.

2. How old was the girl who had been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in
Chapter Eight?

17.

3. How much ransom money had the kidnappers demanded from the girl's father
in Chapter Eight?

$4.8 million.

4. To what does Hank sell Jacob's truck in Chapter Eight?

The feed store.

5. What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

Furniture.

185
Eight Week Quiz A
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
One and Two.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How long is the hike back to Hank's truck in Chapter Two?
(a) 1/2 mile.
(b) 1 mile.
(c) 3 miles.
(d) 2 miles.

2. Hank's parents were killed how long after he was married?

(a) 1 week.
(b) 1 year.
(c) 3 years.
(d) 1 month.

3. What is Carl's last name?

(a) Johnson.
(b) Jacobson.
(c) Jenkins.
(d) Jefferson.

4. How were Hank's parents killed?

(a) Automobile accident.
(b) Boat accident.
(c) Motorcycle accident.
(d) Plane crash.

5. What is Hank's profession?

(a) Accountant.
(b) Teacher.
(c) Doctor.
(d) Writer.

186
Short Answer Questions
1. Who asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane" in Chapter Two?

2. How much money does Hank estimate to be in the bag in Chapter One?

3. How many bullets does Jacob put into his rifle in Chapter One?

4. How many months pregnant is Hank's wife in Chapter Two?

5. What is the name of Hank's wife?

187
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. A
2. B
3. C
4. A
5. A

Short Answer Questions Key

1. Who asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane" in Chapter Two?

Jacob.

2. How much money does Hank estimate to be in the bag in Chapter One?

$3 million.

3. How many bullets does Jacob put into his rifle in Chapter One?

One.

4. How many months pregnant is Hank's wife in Chapter Two?

8.

5. What is the name of Hank's wife?

Sarah.

188
Eight Week Quiz B
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Three and Four.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. For how long has Carl been the town's police officer?
(a) 40 years.
(b) 3 years.
(c) 33 years.
(d) 12 years.

2. What is the name of Jacob's dog?

(a) Sparky.
(b) Buster.
(c) Spot.
(d) Mary Beth.

3. What is the predominant breed of Jacob's dog?

(a) Doberman.
(b) St. Bernard.
(c) German Shepherd.
(d) Great Dane.

4. What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

(a) Furniture.
(b) A motorcycle.
(c) An R.V.
(d) A boat.

5. Jacob appears at the feed store demanding that the clerk do what in Chapter
Four?
(a) Honor a coupon.
(b) Cash a check.
(c) Give him a discount.
(d) Load his vehicle.

189
Short Answer Questions
1. What does Jacob crash into in Chapter One?

2. Where does Hank stuff the money in the plane in Chapter Three?

3. Who remains in the car while Hank hikes to the plane in Chapter Three?

4. What is the name of Lou's girlfriend?

5. What does Jacob tell Hank he intends to buy in Chapter Four?

190
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. A
2. D
3. C
4. A
5. B

Short Answer Questions Key

1. What does Jacob crash into in Chapter One?

A snowbank.

2. Where does Hank stuff the money in the plane in Chapter Three?

Under the pilot's feet.

3. Who remains in the car while Hank hikes to the plane in Chapter Three?

Jacob.

4. What is the name of Lou's girlfriend?

Nancy.

5. What does Jacob tell Hank he intends to buy in Chapter Four?

The family farm.

191
Eight Week Quiz C
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Five and Six.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What beverage do Hank and Jacob overindulge on in Chapter Five?
(a) Beer.
(b) Rum.
(c) Wine.
(d) Whiskey.

2. Where does Hank stuff the money in the plane in Chapter Three?
(a) Near the tail.
(b) Under the seat.
(c) Under the pilot's feet.
(d) In the snow.

3. In Chapter Three, Hank hides the money he plans to leave in the plane inside
what object?
(a) His socks.
(b) A baby carryall.
(c) A briefcase.
(d) A teddy bear.

4. What was the man on the snowmobile searching for in Chapter Three?
(a) Deer.
(b) The fox.
(c) Another trail.
(d) A stream.

5. Where is Penderson buried in Chapter Four?

(a) An elegant mausoleum.
(b) St. Jude's Episcopal Church.
(c) The city cemetary.
(d) A veterans cemetary.

192
Short Answer Questions
1. Jacob intends to tell people that __________has inherited a large sum of money in
Chapter Four.

2. What strikes Hank in the forehead in its effort to escape the plane in Chapter One?

3. What gift does Jacob bring Sarah and the baby in Chapter Five?

4. What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

5. Sarah and the baby come home how many days after childbirth in Chapter Five?

193
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. C
2. C
3. B
4. B
5. B

Short Answer Questions Key

1. Jacob intends to tell people that __________has inherited a large sum of
money in Chapter Four.

Sarah.

2. What strikes Hank in the forehead in its effort to escape the plane in Chapter
One?

A crow.

3. What gift does Jacob bring Sarah and the baby in Chapter Five?

A teddy bear.

4. What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

Furniture.

5. Sarah and the baby come home how many days after childbirth in Chapter
Five?

4.

194
Eight Week Quiz D
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Five and Six.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where is Hank's wife when he awakens in Chapter Three?
(a) The shower.
(b) The dentist.
(c) Outside.
(d) At church.

2. In Chapter One, Hank decides to keep the money for how long before splitting
it to see if it is claimed?
(a) 6 months.
(b) 8 weeks.
(c) 3 days.
(d) 48 hours.

3. Where do Hank, Lou, and Jacob go after leaving the bar in Chapter Six?
(a) Hank's house.
(b) Hank's garage.
(c) Lou's house.
(d) Jacob's house.

4. What was the man on the snowmobile searching for in Chapter Three?
(a) Deer.
(b) The fox.
(c) A stream.
(d) Another trail.

5. What had Hank's parents bought a week before they died?

(a) Furniture.
(b) An R.V.
(c) A motorcycle.
(d) A boat.

195
Short Answer Questions
1. Who cries over the murder in Chapter Three?

2. How long is the hike back to Hank's truck in Chapter Two?

3. Where does Hank go to turn off the lights in the end of Chapter Six?

4. What is Sarah making for supper when Hank and Jacob return in Chapter Five?

5. Where does Hank stuff the money in the plane in Chapter Three?

196
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. A
2. A
3. C
4. B
5. A

Short Answer Questions Key

1. Who cries over the murder in Chapter Three?

Jacob.

2. How long is the hike back to Hank's truck in Chapter Two?

1/2 mile.

3. Where does Hank go to turn off the lights in the end of Chapter Six?

Sonny's.

4. What is Sarah making for supper when Hank and Jacob return in Chapter Five?

Lasagna.

5. Where does Hank stuff the money in the plane in Chapter Three?

Under the pilot's feet.

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Eight Week Quiz E
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Seven and Eight.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many funerals does Hank attend in Chapter Eight?
(a) 3.
(b) 1.
(c) 4.
(d) 2.

2. Who does Hank say murdered Penderson in Chapter Four?

(a) Carl.
(b) Vernon.
(c) Jacob.
(d) Lou.

3. Where is Penderson buried in Chapter Four?

(a) The city cemetary.
(b) An elegant mausoleum.
(c) St. Jude's Episcopal Church.
(d) A veterans cemetary.

4. Jacob intends to tell people that __________has inherited a large sum of

money in Chapter Four.
(a) Lou.
(b) Hank.
(c) Sarah.
(d) Nancy.

5. Whom does Hank realize the money belongs to in Chapter Eight?

(a) Malcolm Bokovsky.
(b) Vernon Bokovsky.
(c) Alice McMartin's uncle.
(d) Alice McMartin's father.

198
Short Answer Questions
1. Whose apartment does Hank go to in order to removing the belongings in Chapter
Eight?

2. Who shoots Jacob in Chapter Six?

3. Hank decides to stage a scene with ___________ and Nancy in bed in Chapter Six.

4. Who asks Hank questions at the hospital in Chapter Seven?

5. Why does Hank awaken and realize their tracks will be covered in Chapter Three?

199
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. C
2. C
3. C
4. C
5. D

Short Answer Questions Key

1. Whose apartment does Hank go to in order to removing the belongings in
Chapter Eight?

Jacob's.

2. Who shoots Jacob in Chapter Six?

Hank.

3. Hank decides to stage a scene with ___________ and Nancy in bed in Chapter
Six.

Sonny.

4. Who asks Hank questions at the hospital in Chapter Seven?

Carl.

5. Why does Hank awaken and realize their tracks will be covered in Chapter
Three?

It snowed overnight.

200
Eight Week Quiz F
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Nine and Ten.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Jacob crash into in Chapter One?
(a) A snowbank.
(b) A tree.
(c) A pedestrian.
(d) A parked car.

2. How many people are shot in Chapter Six?

(a) 10.
(b) 2.
(c) 7.
(d) 4.

3. What girl is described as having been kidnapped in the newspaper articles in

Chapter Eight?
(a) Alice McMartin.
(b) Sophia Johnson.
(c) Melody Smith.
(d) Annette Robinson.

4. What beverage do Hank and Jacob overindulge on in Chapter Five?

(a) Wine.
(b) Rum.
(c) Beer.
(d) Whiskey.

5. Where does Carl ask Hank to come on the phone in Chapter Nine?
(a) His car.
(b) His garage.
(c) His home.
(d) His office.

201
Short Answer Questions
1. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says he is looking for ____________.

2. Jacob appears at the feed store demanding that the clerk do what in Chapter Four?

3. Who strikes the man on the snowmobile in Chapter Three?

4. Where does the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine say an armored car was robbed?

5. What is the name of the county whose sheriff calls Hank in Chapter Ten?

202
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. A
2. D
3. A
4. A
5. D

Short Answer Questions Key

1. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says he is looking for ____________.

A downed plane.

2. Jacob appears at the feed store demanding that the clerk do what in Chapter
Four?

Cash a check.

3. Who strikes the man on the snowmobile in Chapter Three?

Jacob.

4. Where does the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine say an armored car was robbed?

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank.

5. What is the name of the county whose sheriff calls Hank in Chapter Ten?

Fulton County.

203
Eight Week Quiz G
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters
Eleven and Twelve.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Hank decides to stage a scene with ___________ and Nancy in bed in Chapter
Six.
(a) Carl.
(b) Jacob.
(c) Sonny.
(d) Vernon.

2. How much does Hank bid for a condo in Chapter Eight?

(a) $75,000.
(b) $31,000.
(c) $25,000.
(d) $42,000.

3. What does Hank bring with him from the plane in Chapter One?
(a) A duffel bag.
(b) A suitcase.
(c) A paper bag.
(d) A wallet.

4. How much does Carl offer Hank for a gun in Chapter Eight?
(a) $250.
(b) $400.
(c) $200.
(d) $500.

5. How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their
financial situation?
(a) 3 weeks.
(b) 2 days.
(c) 4 months.
(d) 3 months.

204
Short Answer Questions
1. What do the FBI Agents in Chapter Eleven show Hank in their office?

2. What does Hank tell Sarah he should have done when finding the money in Chapter
Nine?

3. What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in Chapter Ten?

4. What does Sarah suggest they do with the money in Chapter Four?

5. Where does Jacob's dog run after he crashes in Chapter One?

205
Multiple Choice Questions Key
1. C
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. B

Short Answer Questions Key

1. What do the FBI Agents in Chapter Eleven show Hank in their office?

The bag of money.

2. What does Hank tell Sarah he should have done when finding the money in
Chapter Nine?

Turned it in.

3. What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in Chapter
Ten?

"Hey Vernon."

4. What does Sarah suggest they do with the money in Chapter Four?

Burn it.

5. Where does Jacob's dog run after he crashes in Chapter One?

Anders Nature Preserve.

206
Mid-Book Test - Easy
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many months pregnant is Hank's wife in Chapter Two?
(a) 6.
(b) 4.
(c) 10.
(d) 8.

2. Who asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane" in Chapter Two?
(a) Lou.
(b) Jacob.
(c) Sonny.
(d) Sarah.

3. What is the name of Jacob's dog?

(a) Mary Beth.
(b) Buster.
(c) Spot.
(d) Sparky.

4. What does Jacob say he believes their parents did to escape their debts in
Chapter Five?
(a) Changed their names.
(b) Committed suicide.
(c) Ran away.
(d) Declared bankruptcy.

5. How many people are shot in Chapter Six?

(a) 4.
(b) 10.
(c) 7.
(d) 2.

207
6. What strikes Hank in the forehead in its effort to escape the plane in Chapter
One?
(a) A cat.
(b) A squirrel.
(c) A fox.
(d) A crow.

7. Who remains in the car while Hank hikes to the plane in Chapter Three?
(a) Sarah.
(b) Jacob.
(c) Nancy.
(d) Carl.

8. Whom does Hank call to say that they have to return to the plane to be certain
they didn't overlook anything in Chapter Three?
(a) Vernon.
(b) Jacob.
(c) Michael.
(d) Carl.

9. Jacob Mitchell lives above what establishment?

(a) A barber shop.
(b) A police station.
(c) A bar.
(d) A hardware store.

10. In Chapter One, Hank decides to keep the money for how long before splitting
it to see if it is claimed?
(a) 48 hours.
(b) 8 weeks.
(c) 6 months.
(d) 3 days.

11. While discussing what to do with the money in Chapter One, Hank concludes
that to take it would be _______.
(a) Murder.
(b) Rational.
(c) Theft.
(d) Good.

208
12. What board game do Hank and Jacob play in Chapter Five?
(a) Scrabble.
(b) Trivial Pursuit.
(c) Jenga.
(d) Monopoly.

13. What is Carl's last name?

(a) Jacobson.
(b) Johnson.
(c) Jenkins.
(d) Jefferson.

14. What does Hank say he will do if there's any indication that he's going to be
caught as an accomplice to the theft they've committed in Chapter Two?
(a) Throw the money in a dumpster.
(b) Give the money to charity.
(c) Burn the money.
(d) Bury the money.

15. What song does Jacob's gift to Sarah and the baby play in Chapter Five?
(a) "Mary had a Little Lamb."
(b) "Old McDonald."
(c) "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."
(d) "Frere Jacques."

209
Short Answer Questions
1. Where does Hank go to turn off the lights in the end of Chapter Six?

2. What is the name of Lou's girlfriend?

3. Where does Jacob Mitchell live?

4. Hank reminds Jacob that he's responsible for whose actions in Chapter Four?

5. Whom does Jacob suggest that he and Hank tell about Penderson in Chapter Three?

210
Multiple Choice Answer Key
1. D 11. C
2. B 12. D
3. A 13. C
4. B 14. C
5. A 15. D
6. D
7. B
8. B
9. D
10. C

Short Answer Key

1. Where does Hank go to turn off the lights in the end of Chapter Six?

Sonny's.

2. What is the name of Lou's girlfriend?

Nancy.

3. Where does Jacob Mitchell live?

Ashenville, Ohio.

4. Hank reminds Jacob that he's responsible for whose actions in Chapter Four?

Lou's.

211
5. Whom does Jacob suggest that he and Hank tell about Penderson in Chapter
Three?

Lou.

212
Final Test - Easy
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What happened to the pilot's face in the airplane, according to Hank in Chapter
Eight?
(a) It was consumed by maggots.
(b) It was burned.
(c) It was pecked away by crows.
(d) It was badly cut by shrapnel.

2. What is the name of the sheriff who calls Hank in Chapter Ten?
(a) Sheriff Peterson.
(b) Sheriff Jacobs.
(c) Sheriff McKellroy.
(d) Sheriff Swanson.

3. What had been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the articles
in Chapter Eight?
(a) Alice's clothes.
(b) Alice's body.
(c) The plane.
(d) Alice's jewelry.

4. The story emerges that who had been belligerent on the night of the murders in
Chapter Eight?
(a) Lou.
(b) Hank.
(c) Carl.
(d) Jacob.

5. Who is the younger of the two brothers who had kidnapped and killed a girl
described in the newspaper in Chapter Eight?
(a) Stephen Bokovsky.
(b) Malcolm Bokovsky.
(c) Vernon Bokovsky.
(d) David Bokovsky.

213
6. What is the name of the subdivision where Hank and Sarah live?
(a) Mount Chippewa.
(b) Creekside Gardens.
(c) Fort Ottowa.
(d) Arbor Pointe.

7. What does Hank tell Sarah he should have done when finding the money in
Chapter Nine?
(a) Gave it away.
(b) Left it alone.
(c) Turned it in.
(d) Burned it.

8. What did Sarah buy with one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?
(a) Lingerie.
(b) Champagne.
(c) Scotch.
(d) Beer.

9. Whom does Hank call after talking with Sarah on the phone in Chapter Eleven?
(a) Alexander's.
(b) The CIA.
(c) The FBI.
(d) Carl.

10. What does the store clerk grab for protection in Chapter Twelve?
(a) A corkscrew.
(b) A shotgun.
(c) A knife.
(d) A wine bottle.

11. What had not been recovered after the ransom was paid, according to the
articles in Chapter Eight?
(a) The plane.
(b) Alice's body.
(c) The money.
(d) Alice's jewelry.

12. When does Hank plan on meeting Carl and the FBI Agent the next day in
Chapter Nine?
(a) 9 a.m.
(b) 6 p.m.
(c) 12 p.m.
(d) 10 a.m.

214
13. When had the armored car robbery taken place, according to the FBI Agent?
(a) July.
(b) September.
(c) October.
(d) June.

14. Where does Jacob undergo surgery in Chapter Seven?

(a) Douglas Medical Center.
(b) Donnovan Medical Center.
(c) Diamond Medical Center.
(d) Delphia Medical Center.

15. What do Hank and Sarah do with the money in Chapter Twelve?
(a) Spend it all.
(b) Donate it to charity.
(c) Burn it.
(d) Scatter it in the street.

215
Short Answer Questions
1. What FBI Agent does Hank meet in Chapter Nine?

2. How much time does Hank have before the liquor store closes in Chapter Eleven?

3. Where does the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine say an armored car was robbed?

4. Where is the store where Sarah spent one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?

5. How much ransom money had the kidnappers demanded from the girl's father in
Chapter Eight?

216
Multiple Choice Answer Key
1. C 11. C
2. C 12. A
3. B 13. A
4. A 14. D
5. A 15. C
6. C
7. C
8. B
9. A
10. D

Short Answer Key

1. What FBI Agent does Hank meet in Chapter Nine?

Agent Neal Baxter.

2. How much time does Hank have before the liquor store closes in Chapter
Eleven?

An hour.

3. Where does the FBI Agent in Chapter Nine say an armored car was robbed?

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank.

4. Where is the store where Sarah spent one of the bills in Chapter Eleven?

Near the airport.

217
5. How much ransom money had the kidnappers demanded from the girl's father
in Chapter Eight?

$4.8 million.

218
Mid-Book Test - Medium
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short
essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is Lou's landlord?
(a) Sonny Connor.
(b) Sonny Robins.
(c) Sonny Winters.
(d) Sonny Major.

2. Where is Penderson buried in Chapter Four?

(a) The city cemetary.
(b) A veterans cemetary.
(c) St. Jude's Episcopal Church.
(d) An elegant mausoleum.

3. Who kills Lou in Chapter Six?

(a) Hank.
(b) Jacob.
(c) Carl.
(d) Nancy.

4. What is Hank's profession?

(a) Doctor.
(b) Writer.
(c) Teacher.
(d) Accountant.

5. Jacob offers to play the role of ____________when he and Hank record Lou's
confession in Chapter Six.
(a) Sarah.
(b) Carl.
(c) Sonny.
(d) The FBI.

219
Short Answer Questions
1. Who asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane" in Chapter Two?

2. Who suggests that Hank should get Lou to confess to Penderson's murder in Chapter
Five?

3. How long is the hike back to Hank's truck in Chapter Two?

4. How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their financial
situation?

5. Where does Jacob Mitchell live?

220
Short Essay Questions
1. Where does Hank find Sarah in the morning of Chapter Three?

2. How do Sarah's motivations begin to evolve in Chapter Four? What does this
indicate?

3. What decision does Hank come to about Penderson in Chapter Three? Why?

4. Why does Hank call Jacob in the morning of Chapter Three?

5. How do Hank and Jacob effectively set Lou up in Chapter Six?

6. Why does Jacob cry in Chapter Three? What argument ensues between Jacob and
Hank?

221
7. What does Hank find inside the crashed plane in Chapter One?

8. What conversation do Jacob and Hank have about their parents in Chapter Five?

9. When does Sarah return home from the hospital in Chapter Five? What does Jacob
bring?

10. Where do Lou, Hank, and Jacob go in Chapter Six? What does Lou reveal about his
debts?

222
Multiple Choice Answer Key
1. D
2. C
3. B
4. D
5. B

Short Answer Key

1. Who asks Hank if he'd told Carl "about the plane" in Chapter Two?

Jacob.

2. Who suggests that Hank should get Lou to confess to Penderson's murder in
Chapter Five?

Sarah.

3. How long is the hike back to Hank's truck in Chapter Two?

1/2 mile.

4. How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their
financial situation?

2 days.

5. Where does Jacob Mitchell live?

Ashenville, Ohio.

223
Short Essay Answer Key
1. Where does Hank find Sarah in the morning of Chapter Three?

When Sarah returns to the bedroom, Hank returns to the present. Hank goes to the
shower, discovers there are no towels, and returns to the bedroom to find Sarah on the
floor with the money. She says that she had wanted to count it for herself. That would
make it more real.

2. How do Sarah's motivations begin to evolve in Chapter Four? What does this
indicate?

Sarah seems on the verge of suggesting that Hank should kill Lou to take him out of
their equation, but she doesn't say that. Hank believes that's what she's about to say.
The fact that Jacob does suggest it is an indication of the extent of the greed of these
characters. There's no doubt that Lou is thinking the same way.

3. What decision does Hank come to about Penderson in Chapter Three? Why?

Hank decides that they will make Penderson's death look like an accident by running his
snowmobile off the bridge into the frozen creek below. Hank sends Jacob down the road
with the car, telling him to wait a few minutes and then return to pick up Hank. After
Jacob is gone, Hank discovers that Penderson is alive and hesitates only a moment
before smothering the man with his scarf.

4. Why does Hank call Jacob in the morning of Chapter Three?

Hank calls Jacob to say that they have to return to the plane to be certain they didn't
overlook anything. Jacob, not yet awake, reluctantly agrees. Hank hides the money he
plans to leave in the plane inside a garbage bag inside a baby carryall. He had decided
that Jacob could not know, for fear that he or Lou would return to the plane and get the
money.

5. How do Hank and Jacob effectively set Lou up in Chapter Six?

Jacob offers to pretend to be the sheriff, and Lou plays along with Hank taping the entire

224
conversation. Hank then tells Lou that they're not going to split up the money until
summer, as they'd planned. Hank shows Lou the tape, explaining why he'd made it and
what he would do with it. Lou calls on Jacob to help him get the tape back, and Jacob
refuses.

6. Why does Jacob cry in Chapter Three? What argument ensues between Jacob
and Hank?

Jacob returns to pick up Hank. Hank notes the mess of tracks on the road as they pass
the scene of the crime. Jacob is crying about having killed Penderson, and Hank finally
tells Jacob that Penderson wasn't dead when Jacob left. Hank says that he himself
killed Penderson and that he did so in order to save Jacob. Jacob says that Hank
shouldn't have killed him.

7. What does Hank find inside the crashed plane in Chapter One?

Jacob and Lou goad Hank into going inside the plane to check on the pilot. There are
dozens of crows and one that has been in the plane strikes Hank in the forehead in its
effort to escape the plane. Jacob finds that the pilot is dead and that the man's eyes
have been pecked out and flesh eaten from his face. Hank pushes his way back out of
the plane along with a large duffel bag.

8. What conversation do Jacob and Hank have about their parents in Chapter
Five?

Hank and Jacob go to visit their parents' grave, having not gotten around to it on the day
they were supposed to have gone in December. On the way the brothers talk about
various aspects of their lives, including their parents, and Jacob says he believes their
parents committed suicide to escape their debts, an idea Hank had only half-believed
up to that point.

9. When does Sarah return home from the hospital in Chapter Five? What does
Jacob bring?

Sarah and the baby Amanda come home four days after the birth. Jacob arrives that
same day with a gift - a musical teddy bear. Hank invites him in, but Jacob refuses.
Jacob asks to borrow a hundred and fifty dollars for his rent, saying that he hoped Hank

225
could simply take it from his share of the money. He says that he isn't looking for a job
and that he sees no reason to.

10. Where do Lou, Hank, and Jacob go in Chapter Six? What does Lou reveal
about his debts?

Lou agrees to go out with Hank and Jacob, and they go to the Wrangler. While Jacob is
gone to the bar for another round of drinks, Hank asks Lou why he couldn't have waited
just a few more months for the money. Lou says that he is some seventeen thousand in
debt, and that he's spent Nancy's savings. Lou still believes that Hank is going to give
him the money within a few days.

226
Final Test - Medium
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short
essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Hank tell Sarah he should have done when finding the money in
Chapter Nine?
(a) Burned it.
(b) Gave it away.
(c) Turned it in.
(d) Left it alone.

2. What does Hank buy for Sarah's birthday in Chapter Eight?

(a) A piano.
(b) Jewelry.
(c) A horse.
(d) A car.

3. Who had found Carl's body in Chapter Eleven?

(a) Carl's brother.
(b) Carl's sister.
(c) Carl's wife.
(d) Carl's son.

4. Whose apartment does Hank go to in order to removing the belongings in

Chapter Eight?
(a) Jacob's.
(b) Lou's.
(c) Carl's.
(d) Sonny's.

5. Who is the younger of the two brothers who had kidnapped and killed a girl
described in the newspaper in Chapter Eight?
(a) Stephen Bokovsky.
(b) Malcolm Bokovsky.
(c) David Bokovsky.
(d) Vernon Bokovsky.

227
Short Answer Questions
1. Whom does Hank call after talking with Sarah on the phone in Chapter Eleven?

2. Whom does Hank realize the money belongs to in Chapter Eight?

3. How does Sarah feel about the FBI Agent's being killed in Chapter Eleven?

4. How much does Carl offer Hank for a gun in Chapter Eight?

5. What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in Chapter Ten?

228
Short Essay Questions
1. Who are the kidnappers described in Chapter Eight?

2. How does Hank attempt to trick Agent Baxter in Chapter Ten? What happens?

3. Why does Agent Baxter tell Hank he is investigating in the area in Chapter Nine?

4. What is Hank's reaction to seeing the bag of money in Chapter Eleven?

5. Whom is Hank asked to identify in Chapter Eleven?

6. What are symbolic elements during the murder at Alexander's in Chapter Twelve?

7. How does Hank meet Agent Baxter? What is his first impression of him?

229
8. What mode of action does Hank begin to question in Chapter Nine at night?

9. What does Hank attempt to justify to Sarah in Chapter Seven?

10. What does Hank say he'll have to do if he goes to the plane in Chapter Nine? What
is Sarah's response?

230
Multiple Choice Answer Key
1. C
2. A
3. C
4. A
5. A

Short Answer Key

1. Whom does Hank call after talking with Sarah on the phone in Chapter Eleven?

Alexander's.

2. Whom does Hank realize the money belongs to in Chapter Eight?

Alice McMartin's father.

3. How does Sarah feel about the FBI Agent's being killed in Chapter Eleven?

Relieved.

4. How much does Carl offer Hank for a gun in Chapter Eight?

$400.

5. What does Hank yell to the FBI Agent on his way out of Carl's office in Chapter
Ten?

"Hey Vernon."

231
Short Essay Answer Key
1. Who are the kidnappers described in Chapter Eight?

The final article provided potential identities of the kidnappers. They are brothers,
Vernon Bokovsky and Stephen Bokovsky. Sarah asks Hank if he can tell whether the
photo in the paper is one of the men in the plane, but Hank points out that the man's
face had been pecked away by birds. The man in the plane was small and so was likely
the younger of the brothers.

2. How does Hank attempt to trick Agent Baxter in Chapter Ten? What happens?

On a hunch he yells, "Hey, Vernon," but he can't really decide whether Baxter turns at
the sound of the name. At his office, Hank calls Sarah who has been on the phone with
the FBI to check for Agent Baxter. She tells Hank now that the FBI says that Neal Baxter
is "in the field."

3. Why does Agent Baxter tell Hank he is investigating in the area in Chapter
Nine?

Baxter says that he's searching for an airplane that might have gone down somewhere
in the area and that Carl had recalled Jacob's story about hearing the plane. Baxter
says that some men robbed an armored car at the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank and
that the case had gone cold until one of the men recently raped a girlfriend.

4. What is Hank's reaction to seeing the bag of money in Chapter Eleven?

Hank seems amazed by the money and asks if he can "touch it." The agents seem
amused by his interest and allow him to hold one of the packets. He returns the money
as they arrive back at the police station. One of the agents says that the kidnappers had
demanded $4.8 million.

5. Whom is Hank asked to identify in Chapter Eleven?

Hank remains waiting at the police station for an hour. The flag is dropped to half-mast
for Carl's death. Then there's a commotion, and Hank is asked to accompany officers to

232
identify a man they believe to be Carl's murderer. Sarah asks where they're taking him,
and Hank says he doesn't know. However, he believes the man is dead.

6. What are symbolic elements during the murder at Alexander's in Chapter

Twelve?

At Alexander's, the clerk has a radio tuned to a Christian program. One of those is a
question posed by the announcer who asks if there's a difference between a sin of
"omission" and a sin of "commission." This is exactly the question posed by Hank to
Sarah when they were deciding whether to go with Carl to the site of the plane crash.

7. How does Hank meet Agent Baxter? What is his first impression of him?

Carl phones and asks Hank to come by his office. Hank does so, and Carl introduces
him to a man identified as Agent Neal Baxter of the FBI. Hank has the impression that
Baxter reminds him of someone, but the resemblance is so vague that Hank can't
remember whom.

8. What mode of action does Hank begin to question in Chapter Nine at night?

In the middle of the night, Hank briefly realizes that the simplest action for him now
would be to take the money and leave everything - including Sarah and Amanda -
behind. Later that night Hank tells Sarah that he should just have turned the money in
when he found it, and Sarah says that it's much too late.

9. What does Hank attempt to justify to Sarah in Chapter Seven?

On the way home, Hank tries to explain his actions and emotions to Sarah. He says that
when he realized Jacob wasn't dead, he couldn't bring himself to finish the job. Hank
says that despite everything, Jacob is his brother. He doesn't want him to die. He says
that he'd wanted to protect them, but he had also wanted to save Jacob.

233
10. What does Hank say he'll have to do if he goes to the plane in Chapter Nine?
What is Sarah's response?

Hank says that if he's going to take Baxter to the plane, he has to return the money.
Sarah says that they can't after all that's happened. Sarah then says that if the agent is
Vernon Bokovsky, he and Carl are the only threats to Hank having the money. She says
that Hank should simply stay away, but Hank argues that if Baxter is Vernon, he'll kill
Carl.

234
Mid-Book Test - Hard
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3)
essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What beverage do Hank and Jacob overindulge on in Chapter Five?

2. Jacob Mitchell lives above what establishment?

3. How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their financial
situation?

4. Why does Hank awaken and realize their tracks will be covered in Chapter Three?

5. Hank decides to stage a scene with ___________ and Nancy in bed in Chapter Six.

235
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Hank feel about his brother's future in Chapter Five? Why does he change
his mind?

2. What does Hank find inside the crashed plane in Chapter One?

3. Where do Lou, Hank, and Jacob go in Chapter Six? What does Lou reveal about his
debts?

4. What does Hank resolve to do if he is threatened with being caught in Chapter One?
How much money is in the bag?

5. Why does Jacob cry in Chapter Three? What argument ensues between Jacob and
Hank?

6. What decision does Hank reach about what to do with the money in Chapter One?

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7. Why do Hank, Lou, and Jacob enter Anders Nature Preserve in Chapter One?

8. When does Sarah return home from the hospital in Chapter Five? What does Jacob
bring?

9. Where does Hank stow some of the money in Chapter Three? How does he hide the
fact from Jacob?

10. Why does Hank call Jacob in the morning of Chapter Three?

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Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the character of Nancy in the novel. What is the threat of Nancy knowing about
the money? How does this impact Sarah's objectives?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the setting of A Simple Plan. Where is Ashenville, Ohio located? What is the
climate like at this location? In what year and month does the novel begin?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Jacob's role in setting up Lou in Chapter Six. What internal conflicts does Jacob
face in this scenario and why? Whom does he choose in the end?

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Short Answer Key
1. What beverage do Hank and Jacob overindulge on in Chapter Five?

Wine.

2. Jacob Mitchell lives above what establishment?

A hardware store.

3. How long before his death had Hank's father asked him to look into their
financial situation?

2 days.

4. Why does Hank awaken and realize their tracks will be covered in Chapter
Three?

It snowed overnight.

5. Hank decides to stage a scene with ___________ and Nancy in bed in Chapter
Six.

Sonny.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. What does Hank feel about his brother's future in Chapter Five? Why does he
change his mind?

While Hank is drunk, he feels hopeful that he and his brother will find a new way to
make a life together and that he can find a love for his brother that he never felt before.

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As soon as the liquor wears off, Hank realizes it was an unattainable dream.

2. What does Hank find inside the crashed plane in Chapter One?

Jacob and Lou goad Hank into going inside the plane to check on the pilot. There are
dozens of crows and one that has been in the plane strikes Hank in the forehead in its
effort to escape the plane. Jacob finds that the pilot is dead and that the man's eyes
have been pecked out and flesh eaten from his face. Hank pushes his way back out of
the plane along with a large duffel bag.

3. Where do Lou, Hank, and Jacob go in Chapter Six? What does Lou reveal
about his debts?

Lou agrees to go out with Hank and Jacob, and they go to the Wrangler. While Jacob is
gone to the bar for another round of drinks, Hank asks Lou why he couldn't have waited
just a few more months for the money. Lou says that he is some seventeen thousand in
debt, and that he's spent Nancy's savings. Lou still believes that Hank is going to give
him the money within a few days.

4. What does Hank resolve to do if he is threatened with being caught in Chapter

One? How much money is in the bag?

As the three men drive slowly away from their encounter with Carl, Hank says that he
will burn the money if there's any indication that he's going to be caught as an
accomplice to the theft they've committed. They stop and count the money while Hank
watches for approaching cares. They make forty-four stacks of bills that equal $4.4
million.

5. Why does Jacob cry in Chapter Three? What argument ensues between Jacob
and Hank?

Jacob returns to pick up Hank. Hank notes the mess of tracks on the road as they pass
the scene of the crime. Jacob is crying about having killed Penderson, and Hank finally
tells Jacob that Penderson wasn't dead when Jacob left. Hank says that he himself
killed Penderson and that he did so in order to save Jacob. Jacob says that Hank
shouldn't have killed him.

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6. What decision does Hank reach about what to do with the money in Chapter
One?

Hank finally decides that that the plane is bound to be discovered in the spring after the
snow is gone and that with that discovery will come news about the origin of the money.
Hank comes to a decision and says that he'll keep the money for six months and that if
no one comes for it by then, the three will split the money evenly between them.

7. Why do Hank, Lou, and Jacob enter Anders Nature Preserve in Chapter One?

Jacob is driving. When they crash into a snow bank, Mary Beth rushes off in pursuit of a
fox that crossed the road directly in front of them into Anders Nature Preserve. Jacob
puts a single bullet into his rifle, and the three men go looking for the fox. They top the
rim of a shallow dip and find a plane there.

8. When does Sarah return home from the hospital in Chapter Five? What does
Jacob bring?

Sarah and the baby Amanda come home four days after the birth. Jacob arrives that
same day with a gift - a musical teddy bear. Hank invites him in, but Jacob refuses.
Jacob asks to borrow a hundred and fifty dollars for his rent, saying that he hoped Hank
could simply take it from his share of the money. He says that he isn't looking for a job
and that he sees no reason to.

9. Where does Hank stow some of the money in Chapter Three? How does he
hide the fact from Jacob?

Hank allows Jacob to stay in the car, avoiding the half-hour ride to the plane and
avoiding the problem of keeping his true purpose hidden. Hank looks around carefully
for anything that might give their involvement away. He shoves the garbage bag full of
money under the pilot's feet toward the nose of the plane.

10. Why does Hank call Jacob in the morning of Chapter Three?

Hank calls Jacob to say that they have to return to the plane to be certain they didn't
overlook anything. Jacob, not yet awake, reluctantly agrees. Hank hides the money he
plans to leave in the plane inside a garbage bag inside a baby carryall. He had decided

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that Jacob could not know, for fear that he or Lou would return to the plane and get the
money.

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Final Test - Hard
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3)
essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How much does Carl offer Hank for a gun in Chapter Eight?

2. Sarah been on the phone with whom when Hank calls her in Chapter Ten?

3. What does Hank put on in the back of the store in Chapter Twelve?

4. How much ransom money had the kidnappers demanded from the girl's father in
Chapter Eight?

5. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says he is looking for ____________.

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Short Essay Questions
1. What do the FBI agents respond after hearing Hank's statement in Chapter Eleven?

2. What are symbolic elements during the murder at Alexander's in Chapter Twelve?

3. What excuse does Hank give Carl for not accompanying him in Chapter Ten? How
does he feel about it?

4. What does Hank attempt to justify to Sarah in Chapter Seven?

5. Whose funerals does Hank attend in Chapter Eight? What stories emerge?

6. Whom is Hank asked to identify in Chapter Eleven?

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7. What does Hank say he'll have to do if he goes to the plane in Chapter Nine? What is
Sarah's response?

8. How does Hank attempt to trick Agent Baxter in Chapter Ten? What happens?

9. How does Hank respond when Sarah asks if he would kill her for the money in
Chapter Eight?

10. What is Hank's reaction to seeing the bag of money in Chapter Eleven?

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Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of family in the novel. How does Jacob's bear represent family
symbolically in Chapter Five?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the element of symbolism in literature. What symbolic elements have been
illustrated in A Simple Plan? What does the farm symbolize?

Essay Topic 3

Identify and discuss the narrative voice of the novel and Hank Mitchell as the
protagonist. What character traits does Hank embody in Chapter One?

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Short Answer Key
1. How much does Carl offer Hank for a gun in Chapter Eight?

$400.

2. Sarah been on the phone with whom when Hank calls her in Chapter Ten?

Agent Baxter.

3. What does Hank put on in the back of the store in Chapter Twelve?

A ski mask.

4. How much ransom money had the kidnappers demanded from the girl's father
in Chapter Eight?

$4.8 million.

5. The FBI Agent in Chapter Nine says he is looking for ____________.

A downed plane.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. What do the FBI agents respond after hearing Hank's statement in Chapter
Eleven?

When he finishes, one of the agents says that there's "one thing wrong with your story."
Hank expects the worst, but the agent says that the man Hank is calling FBI agent
Baxter is really Vernon Bokovsky, a murderer and kidnapper. They then show Hank the
garbage bag full of money he'd returned to the plane.

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2. What are symbolic elements during the murder at Alexander's in Chapter
Twelve?

At Alexander's, the clerk has a radio tuned to a Christian program. One of those is a
question posed by the announcer who asks if there's a difference between a sin of
"omission" and a sin of "commission." This is exactly the question posed by Hank to
Sarah when they were deciding whether to go with Carl to the site of the plane crash.

3. What excuse does Hank give Carl for not accompanying him in Chapter Ten?
How does he feel about it?

He calls Carl, saying that Amanda is throwing up and that he has to go home. When he
tells Carl that he must go home, Carl expresses concern for the baby and offers to send
help as well. Hank is touched by the concern and seems on the verge of warning Carl
but thinks better of it and finishes by saying that Carl should be careful on the roads.

4. What does Hank attempt to justify to Sarah in Chapter Seven?

On the way home, Hank tries to explain his actions and emotions to Sarah. He says that
when he realized Jacob wasn't dead, he couldn't bring himself to finish the job. Hank
says that despite everything, Jacob is his brother. He doesn't want him to die. He says
that he'd wanted to protect them, but he had also wanted to save Jacob.

5. Whose funerals does Hank attend in Chapter Eight? What stories emerge?

Hank attends the funerals of Nancy, Sonny, Lou, and then Jacob. The stories begin to
emerge that Lou had been belligerent earlier on the night of the murders and that a co-
worker suspected that Nancy had been having an affair for some time. Hank is forced
by the landlord to clear Jacob's possessions out of his apartment.

6. Whom is Hank asked to identify in Chapter Eleven?

Hank remains waiting at the police station for an hour. The flag is dropped to half-mast
for Carl's death. Then there's a commotion, and Hank is asked to accompany officers to
identify a man they believe to be Carl's murderer. Sarah asks where they're taking him,
and Hank says he doesn't know. However, he believes the man is dead.

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7. What does Hank say he'll have to do if he goes to the plane in Chapter Nine?
What is Sarah's response?

Hank says that if he's going to take Baxter to the plane, he has to return the money.
Sarah says that they can't after all that's happened. Sarah then says that if the agent is
Vernon Bokovsky, he and Carl are the only threats to Hank having the money. She says
that Hank should simply stay away, but Hank argues that if Baxter is Vernon, he'll kill
Carl.

8. How does Hank attempt to trick Agent Baxter in Chapter Ten? What happens?

On a hunch he yells, "Hey, Vernon," but he can't really decide whether Baxter turns at
the sound of the name. At his office, Hank calls Sarah who has been on the phone with
the FBI to check for Agent Baxter. She tells Hank now that the FBI says that Neal Baxter
is "in the field."

9. How does Hank respond when Sarah asks if he would kill her for the money in
Chapter Eight?

Hank is upset by the question and says that he has never killed for the money but only
to protect them so that they didn't go to jail. Sarah presses, asking what Hank would do
if she decided that she wanted to turn him in and tell the authorities the entire story.
Hank says that he could never harm either Sarah or Amanda and that the two are all he
has.

10. What is Hank's reaction to seeing the bag of money in Chapter Eleven?

Hank seems amazed by the money and asks if he can "touch it." The agents seem
amused by his interest and allow him to hold one of the packets. He returns the money
as they arrive back at the police station. One of the agents says that the kidnappers had
demanded $4.8 million.

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