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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which text does Stillman use as the basis of his argument about the fall of man in his book?
(a) Dante's Divine Comedy.
(b) Flaubert's Madame Bovary.
(c) Milton's Paradise Lost.
(d) Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

2. How does Quinn find out that Stillman has committed suicide?
(a) Virginia Stillman tells him over the telephone.
(b) He sees a news story about it on television.
(c) Paul Auster tells him over the telephone.
(d) He reads it in a newspaper.

3. After Quinn figures out the message, how many days does he estimate are left before Stillman makes a move to harm Peter?
(a) One day.
(b) Seven days.
(c) Four days.
(d) Two days.

4. What does Quinn find when he returns to his apartment?
(a) Paul Auster is living there.
(b) His belongings are gone and another resident is living there.
(c) Virginia Stillman is there waiting for him.
(d) His apartment building has burned down.

5. To which two continental philosophers does the narrator credit the concept of the "noble savage"?
(a) Milton and Dark.
(b) Locke and Rousseau.
(c) Nietzsche and Heidigger.
(d) Hume and Kant.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of the persona that Stillman invents in his book in order to protect himself?

2. Where is Quinn the second time the telephone rings?

3. According to the end of Chapter 8, what does "El" mean in ancient Hebrew?

4. Where does the first face-to-face meeting between Quinn and Stillman take place?

5. According to Stillman's book, what was the biblical Adam's only task in the Garden of Eden?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Stillman's theory about having children? What is the correlation between having children and knowledge?

2. What does Quinn believe is the key to effective detective work? Does his theory prove to be correct? Why or why not?

3. What is unusual about the relationship between Peter Stillman and his wife Virginia? What does Virginia do to make their relationship work?

4. Describe the relationship between Quinn and the counterman at the luncheonette. What interest unites them?

5. In Chapter 12, why does Quinn finally decide to leave the alleyway? Who is the first person he contacts and what information does this person provide?

6. Why is Virginia Stillman scared when Quinn calls her at the end of Chapter 9? What makes her think that Stillman may have contacted Peter?

7. While Quinn is living in the alleyway in Chapter 12, what is his sleep schedule like? How is he able to measure the amount of time he has been sleeping?

8. What is the financial and societal status of the Stillman family? Where do the Stillmans come from?

9. What is the danger of Quinn's becoming too bored while following Stillman? Who does he pretend to be in order to combat his boredom?

10. In Chapter 13, where does Quinn go? What does he do there?

(see the answer keys)

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