Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. How much money does O'Rourke believe the government wastes on farm subsidies?
2. What is the name of the Colonel who O'Rourke met while he was observing Operation Just Cause?
3. What is the common enemy that environmentalists have, according to the author?
4. Hoping to see poverty first hand, O'Rourke took a trip where?
5. At the town meeting which O'Rourke attended, the elderly retired people sat where?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does O'Rourke feel about Social Security after visiting the AARP?
2. Why does O'Rourke say Americans will not find a solution to the problem of drugs in the country?
3. Why does O'Rourke feels that Blatherboro is out of its depth when it comes to city planning?
4. Why does O'Rourke feel that the best policy for dealing with Afghani Pathan tribesman is to just stay away from them?
5. What does the author mean when he says that Americans live a "whiffle life"?
6. What does O'Rourke see when he spends an evening with the Washington DC police department?
7. How does O'Rourke feel about claims of collateral damage during Operation Just Cause?
8. How does O'Rourke feel about the seriousness of the problem of crack cocaine in America?
9. Why does O'Rourke fault environmentalists for making "big business" out to be the enemy?
10. How does O'Rourke feel about the government's treatment of the nation's problem with drugs?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Explore the significance of Michael Dukakis in the book. How does O'Rourke use Dukakis' past experience as governor to mock him? What problems did he see with the way Dukakis led? What problems did he see with the promises Dukakis made to the U.S. citizens?
Essay Topic 2
What role did the media play in George H. W. Bush's popularity? How does O'Rourke characterize the media's feelings toward Bush? How does he seem to feel about the media's treatment of Bush? What is the significance of O'Rourke including this observation in his book? What point is he trying to make?
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?
This section contains 796 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |