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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 nationality is L's butler in section fifteen?

2. Bukowski says in section twelve that he's on the side of what?

3. In what year did Bukowski write the foreword?

4. When Bukowski leaves the apartment after the card game fight, to which city does he take a bus?

5. According to Freddie in section eleven, people are made of all BUT WHICH of the following?

Short Essay Questions

1. In section nine, Bukowski has what to say in response to the assassinations of Kennedy, King, and Malcolm X?

2. In section ten, how does Moss convince Shareen to let them come over?

3. In section thirteen, what conclusions does the narrator draw about the life he's led?

4. What does Bukowski say after relating the rant from the sportscaster who wants to lock up the mad?

5. What does the narrator finally discover about dying at the end of section thirteen?

6. According to Bukowski, why does the crowd continue to bet on the races after the riot on the field in section eight?

7. To what does Bukowski compare the smell behind the curtain in section three?

8. What does Bukowski mean at the end of section five when he says, "who cares about a dead battery?"

9. When his friend Kerouac speaks out against homosexuals in section five, how does Bukowski respond?

10. Describe what letter Bukowski finds in his mailbox when he arrives home at the end of section three.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What genre does Bukowski fit into? Do some research and define him, using stylistic examples from the text to support your paper.

Essay Topic 2

In general, Bukowski writes autobiographically. Has he truly experienced everything he writes about? Or has he made a lot of it up? Write a persuasive essay arguing one way or the other, and be sure to include supporting information from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Pick one of the statements from section 22 and write an essay detailing three ways in which this statement can be seen in practice in Bukowski's life (or in the life of one of his characters). Be sure to include supporting information from the text.

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