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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. The Narrator does not want to go faster than

2. The Narrator calls unnatural the divorce of

3. The travelers stay in cabins in Gardiner made by the owner who is a craftsman as evidenced by

4. Phaedrus' academic goal in University was to

5. The point at which Phaedrus gave up on Oriental wisdom was when a professor called the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the possible reasons John did not want the Narrator to use a beer can to shim his motorcycle handlebars?

2. Chris' Indian friend's grandmother said that ghosts appear when someone has not been buried right. How does that relate to the discussions of the Narrator about Phaedrus? At what times and in what places does Phaedrus appear?

3. How does the Narrator distinguish between European and Native American ghosts?

4. Goethe's poem captures what may be at stake for the Narrator and Chris on this trip or at this point in their lives. Use the discussion of Chris, the ideas of Phaedrus up to this point, and what is said about the poem to explain how the poem captures what is going on in the Narrator's mind.

5. Which question would you prefer to ask your friends: "What's new?" or "What is best?" Which question would you rather have people ask you?

6. Chapter 30 is a chapter full of defeat: Phaedrus is unburied; the Narrator is on the brink of insanity again; the Narrator has lost touch with Chris; Chris is despondent and frustrated and angry, and Chris is in danger of following in Phaedrus' footsteps into insanity. What glimmer of hope occurs to the Narrator as he tries to deal with Chris' emotions?

7. The book has an Afterword (chapter 33). In it the author tells how Chris was brutally murdered at age 22 and that the author now has a young daughter. How has she helped to put his life "back in perspective again"? What is that perspective? (refer to chapters 24 and 25 also)

8. In what ways was Phaedrus changed by his studies in India? How did his background in science help or hinder him in learning to think like the Orientals?

9. The Narrator says: "If you want to build a factory, or fix a motorcycle, or set a nation right without getting stuck, then classical, structured, dualistic subject-object knowledge, although necessary, isn't enough." What does he mean?

10. Why is the Narrator apprehensive about seeing DeWeese?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What gave Phaedrus permission to keep haunting the author? Where should the author have buried Phaedrus? How would this have been possible?

Essay Topic 2

What does the Narrator mean when he says "Quality is the point of common understanding between the classic and romantic worlds. . . A real understanding of Quality captures the System, tames it, and puts it to work for one's own personal use, while leaving one completely free to fulfill his inner destiny."

Essay Topic 3

How can technology best be pursued and used to enrich human life rather than degrading humans? Give examples. How can technology be art? Can you think of some examples?

(see the answer keys)

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