Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government Test | Final Test - Hard

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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 is the name of the Michael Harrington book which says America had a hidden poverty?

2. O'Rourke recalls spending an evening in what police department?

3. Townsfolk from O'Rourke's town decided that any new sewer system costing more than how much had to be approved by a special town meeting?

4. What is the official office of the Drug Czar?

5. What tax did the natives of O'Rourke's town fear that the retirees would inflate?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the author mean when he says that Americans live a "whiffle life"?

2. How does O'Rourke describe the USS Mobile Bay?

3. Why does O'Rourke say that Blatherboro suffers from stupidity?

4. How does O'Rourke feel about Social Security after visiting the AARP?

5. What role do special interest groups play in politics?

6. How does O'Rourke describe Blatherboro?

7. Why does O'Rourke feel that the best policy for dealing with Afghani Pathan tribesman is to just stay away from them?

8. Why does O'Rourke say Americans will not find a solution to the problem of drugs in the country?

9. Why does O'Rourke feels that Blatherboro is out of its depth when it comes to city planning?

10. How does O'Rourke feel about claims of collateral damage during Operation Just Cause?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore the author's feelings about the Republican and Democratic parties. How does he characterize Republicans and their ideals? How does he characterize Democrats and their ideals? What characteristic do the parties share? What faults does he find with each party? Does he say anything positive about each party?

Essay Topic 2

How does the author describe journalists? How does he seem to feel about these people? What techniques does the author use to show his opinions of Washington journalists? Why might his feelings about journalists be ironic? Does he address this irony?

Essay Topic 3

Explore the perspective used in this nonfiction work. How would O'Rourke's lessons about the government be different if they were written from a third-person perspective, like they would be in a text book? What could the reader gain from a less personal perspective? What is gained from the first-person perspective and the first-hand examples that he uses instead?

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This section contains 835 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample