56 pages • 1 hour read
Tobias WolffA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Page numbers refer to the short story as it appears in the anthology In the Garden of the North American Martyrs, Ecco Press, 1981. (Internet Archive link)
Reading Check
1. Tub (Page 10)
2. The farmer’s dog (Page 16)
3. Kenny (Page 16)
4. Frank is having an affair with his 15-year-old babysitter. (Page 22)
5. Tub is fat because he eats too much. (Page 24)
Short Answer
1. The windshield is broken due to “juvenile delinquents,” and the heater doesn’t work. (Page 10)
2. The farmer asked Kenny to shoot the dog because it was old and sick. Kenny would rather his friends associate him with violence than mercy. (Page 18)
3. Tub grabs Frank by the collar and backs him up against the fence, shaking him until Frank gives up. (Page 19)
4. In the beginning, Frank and Kenny are loosely allied and stick together while hunting, offering no support or assistance to Tub. (Pages 11-14) After Tub shoots Kenny and begins to stand up for himself, Tub and Frank leave Kenny in the cold truck while they make several stops to warm up. Frank and Tub form a loose bond in sharing secrets. (Pages 21-26)
5. Kenny will most likely die because Frank took a wrong turn and is heading in the opposite direction of the hospital.
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