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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Cy do when he visits Maximus?

2. When Cy walks Grace home when he first meets her, what does he think about at the door?

3. What does Cy see as a tattoo artist?

4. Of what is Coney Island proof?

5. What does Henry find when he climbs the floor to where Sedak is held?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Grace is out of the hospital and visits Cy, how is her body described and how does Cy respond?

2. How are tattooists looked at in Coney Island?

3. When Cy is somewhat inebriated in Vargas, he makes what connection between Grace and his mother and how does he react to that connection?

4. What does Cy think he sees in a neighboring apartment that makes him question his sanity?

5. What is the story Henry gives about what happens at the asylum and do the police believe him?

6. What does Cy think about Coney Island and how do you interpret that?

7. How does Cy compare Coney Island to Morecambe?

8. What are the sexual images Cy has of mermaids?

9. What gives a possible hint to a terrible secret in Grace's past?

10. Describe the last image in the book and what you think is its meaning.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part 2, "Babylon in Brooklyn," much narration is devoted to describing Coney Island. Choose one of the following and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Compare and contrast Coney Island with Cy's boyhood home, Morecambe.

2. Find all the references to Coney Island and explain the relation of this setting to two of the major themes of the book.

3. How are Coney Island and the mystique of tattoos compatible? Not compatible?

Essay Topic 2

As Cy is working for Riley after his mother has died, Cy continues to judge life by Reeda's standards for many years after she dies. Eventually, he begins to judge life by Riley's standards. After he has moved to Brooklyn and lives in a world of which Riley nor Reeda know anything, their ideas still greatly influence his interpretations of the life around him. Answer the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Discuss how Riley's influence is still a large part of Cy's life in America.

2. Discuss how his mother's ideas inform Cy's adult life--be sure to include specific examples.

3. At what point in Cy's life does Cy begin formulating his own ideas about life? Give examples. Do Reeda's and Riley's influence ever completely fade out of Cy's mind?

Essay Topic 3

In Part 2, "History's Ink," Malcolm Sedak pours acid upon Grace. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text, your research or personal experience:

1. What foreshadowing is there to warn the readers of the scene at the opening to "History's Ink" when Grace is horribly attacked? Give examples and why you think the examples foreshadow the event. Do you think something as intense as this scene needs to be foreshadowed? Why or why not?

2. Discuss the various responses to the attack. Was Claudia justified in beating Sedak? How about Henry giving Grace morphine or Cy believing he has to stay in the hospital or Grace will die? What do you think was Grace's thoughts about it as she lies in the hospital?

(see the answer keys)

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