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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Mr. Thoth pulls a gold signet ring with the ________ symbol out of his knitting bag, which he says his grandfather cut from the finger of an Indian he had killed.

2. What kind of stamp does Genghis Cohen invite Oedipa over to view that bears the muted post horn, belly-up badger, and a motto referring to Tristero's empire?

3. What is on the cover of the book she purchases at Zapf's Used Books?

4. Who does Oedipa try to call from a phone booth before she heads to the bookstore?

5. Bortz imagines one visionary militant addressing a group of Tristero members in a tavern to propose a merger with official postal couriers. What name does he give to this visionary?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the paradox that Oedipa discovers concerning the Trystero couplet from Driblette's play?

2. In addition to visiting John Nefastis, why does Oedipa need to go to Berkeley?

3. At the end of Chapter 4, Genghis Cohen explains to Oedipa that the dandelion wine is clear now, but becomes cloudy in the spring when the dandelions begin to bloom, as if the dandelions in the wine remembered. What does Oedipa muse about this?

4. The overall crisis Oedipa faces by the end of the novel could be summed up how?

5. Why are WASTE mail boxes located under freeways?

6. The men Oedipa meets on her journey end up abandoning her. What were some of their fates and what did they represent?

7. What does the historical marker that Oedipa remembers seeing at Fangoso Lagoons commemorate?

8. When Oedipa and Metzger go back to The Scope in Chapter 4, Mike Fallopian explains that there exists what kind of underground group?

9. Give examples of individuals with the post horn symbol who are somehow alienated from society.

10. Why does Oedipa consider her job as co-executor to be similar to Driblette's job as director of a play?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Satire is the literary criticism of people and society through ridicule. Pynchon gives a satirical view of many of society's institutions in The Crying of Lot 49. Choose two of the following and discuss the use of each fully through characters, setting, plot and theme.

1) Law and lawyers

2) Psychiatry

3) Industrial corporations

4) Universities and scholarly research

5) Federal institutions such as the postal system

6) Urban sprawl

7) American pop culture

8) Capitalism

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 3, Pynchon engages in explicit foreshadowing, signaled by use of the future tense. The author also speaks directly to the reader, providing knowledge of which the character remains ignorant.

1) Give specific examples of foreshadowing.

2) How is this literary device used in an ironic manner?

Essay Topic 3

Oedipa's husband is named Mucho Maas, an approximation to the Spanish phrase 'mucho mas,' or 'much more.' What does this suggest the character of Mucho represents in the novel? Give specific examples of how this is shown throughout The Crying of Lot 49.

(see the answer keys)

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