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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. How many choices are there in the newest vending machine on the mezzanine?

2. What product in the CVS does Howie consider to reflect different social cultures?

3. Who gets the get-well poster for Ray at work?

4. Howie considers ___________ might buy classic paperbacks like him.

5. Where is there a major difference between home and corporate bathroom?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Howie consider to be the quintessential question about lunch hours?

2. What is one of Howie's favorite games to play on the escalator?

3. What observations does Howie make about vending machines?

4. What is Howie's dilemma in the men's bathroom?

5. What activity does Howie describe that both he and L take part in when alone in an elevator?

6. What does Howie note that he is surprised about in the men's bathroom?

7. What causes Howie to consider the intentions of the inventors of the escalator?

8. What observations does Howie make about his Revere saucepan?

9. Why does Howie need to purchase earplugs every week?

10. What attracted Howie to the Aurelius book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the aesthetic distance created in the novel and the reader's experience of spending the entire time inside Howie's thoughts.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the purpose of the character L. Why does she never actually physically appears in the narrative? How does she help create the roundness of Howie's character?

Essay Topic 3

What is the symbolic significance of the earplugs? Why does Howie feel compelled to spend an inordinate amount of time isolated within his mind?

(see the answer keys)

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