View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the narrator's parents complain about when they come visit him at his apartment?

2. What is the name of the cleaning woman who works for the narrator's family?

3. What is the name of the narrator's oldest brother?

4. How old is the narrator when his testicles recede?

5. How old is the narrator's previous girlfriend when they broke up?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Chapter 2 primarily about?

2. What does Alex remark about his father's bowel movements in Chapter 4?

3. What story does Alex tell about his mother and lobster?

4. What frustration does the narrator express in Chapter 4 about his job and his parents' view of it?

5. What does the narrator speak of regarding his humiliations with his mother as a child in Chapter 3?

6. What became of the narrator's cousin? Why?

7. Who does the narrator's father hold up as someone to emulate? Why?

8. Where does Alex's family move during his childhood? When does this happen?

9. What is the story the narrator tells in the beginning of Chapter 4? Why does he do what he does in this story?

10. What were the narrator's father's ambitions for him growing up?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of religion in Portnoy's Complaint. How does the narrator express his issues with Judaism? What are his feelings toward Christianity? How does religion tie into the other themes in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role of the character of Dr. Spielvogel in the novel. What literary device does this character embody?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the misogynistic elements of the novel and particularly those of the main character. How does Alex's behavior toward women exude misogynist traits? How does his phraseology?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 780 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample