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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 Painted Stick say he is used for?

2. What does Roland Abu Hadee inherit from his father?

3. What does Ellen Cherry choose to do during her celebration with Boomer at the Drive-in?

4. What does Buddy tell Ellen Cherry she should do after seeing her at the I & I?

5. What do Painted Stick and Conch Shell do for the other objects immediately after meeting them?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the sculpture that Boomer is bringing to Jerusalem to reassemble.

2. Do you see any irony in Salome's determination only to do the Dance of the Seven Veils if she can have John the Baptist's head on a platter? Why or why not?

3. At the end of this section, Buddy avoids getting a speeding ticket by using his saxophone voice and preaching to the police officer. Is this realistic and why do you think Robbins includes it in the story?

4. What do we learn about Ellen Cherry in the first few sections of the novel?

5. Why do you think that Ellen Cherry covers a nude portrait of Boomer with tongues?

6. When Ellen Cherry reflects on Boomer's fear that she loves art more than him, she admits that it's true, but adds that she loves art more than herself too. What does this tell us about Ellen Cherry and about her opinion of art?

7. What do we learn about Patsy, Ellen Cherry's mother in the section called "The First Veil"?

8. Describe Ellen Cherry's eye game.

9. What does Ellen Cherry mean when she says that "'political art' is a contradiction in terms"?

10. When Buddy goes to answer a knock at his door, he has an erection from reading about a Christian wife who goes to bed with her make-up on. What does this incident tell us about Buddy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore the significance of Isaac and Ishmael's. Describe the symbolism of the restaurant as well as it's political implications. The narrator talks a lot about this in the fourth veil, when the restaurant is introduced. Include this information, but don't limit your discussion to it. You may also want to consider the significance of Spike and Abu's backgrounds and characters.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the historical account in this novel, including Robbins' interpretations of the events with the generally accepted historical view. This requires some basic research. Be careful to limit your comparison to a manageable sequence of events. For example, do not try to track the entire historical background from the first temple to modern day Jerusalem. Choose a coherent part of the history detailed in the novel and limit yourself to that. You could, for example, choose to focus on the Jerusalem from the first temple to the second. Or, you might focus on the 20th century conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Essay Topic 3

Track the allusions to Wolfmother Wallpaper. Who or what is Wolfmother Wallpaper? What function do the allusions to Wolfmother Wallpaper play in the novel, if any?

(see the answer keys)

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