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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The unnamed narrator compares the experience of looking at Judd's works with the experience of looking at what other object?
(a) Stonehenge.
(b) The Grand Canyon.
(c) The third eye.
(d) The Holy Grail.

2. To what type of restaurant did Noor's mother take her to tell her the identity of her biological father?
(a) Mexican.
(b) French.
(c) Chinese.
(d) Italian.

3. What does the unnamed narrator describe in his comments at Columbia's School of Arts as the "shadow language to Reagan's official narrative processing of the national tragedy" (114)?
(a) Iran Contra jokes.
(b) Oklahoma City bombing jokes.
(c) Challenger jokes.
(d) My Lai jokes.

4. For what purpose does the unnamed narrator choose the particular book he brings along on the residency?
(a) To get it signed.
(b) To use it as a model for his own book.
(c) To remind him why he loves writing.
(d) For a teaching assignment.

5. In what field does Alena's friend Peter work?
(a) Literature.
(b) Accounting.
(c) Marketing.
(d) Art.

6. About what subject does the unnamed narrator pontificate when the intern begs him to speak aloud?
(a) Pluto's demoted status.
(b) The spawning of salmon.
(c) The qualities of the equator.
(d) The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.

7. Noor tells the unnamed narrator that her late father had shared a "strong sense" of what kind of "identity" (99) with her?
(a) Chilean.
(b) Cuban.
(c) Iranian.
(d) Lebanese.

8. To what hospital does the unnamed narrator go at the beginning of Part Three?
(a) New-York Presbyterian Hospital.
(b) Kaiser-Permanente Hospital.
(c) St. Christopher Hospital.
(d) El Camino Hospital.

9. What is the only element of the physical world that gives the unnamed narrator a feeling of excitement?
(a) Built space.
(b) The ocean.
(c) The sky.
(d) The natural world.

10. Alena puts the pieces of a shattered sculpture by which artist into the unnamed narrator's hands?
(a) Salvador Dali.
(b) Henri Matisse.
(c) Jeff Koons.
(d) Andy Warhol.

11. What percentage of the unnamed narrator's bill at the hospital in Part Three is covered by his insurance?
(a) 70.
(b) 0.
(c) 20.
(d) 50.

12. When the unnamed narrator attending the private showing of a particular artist's works, he says, "The works felt first and foremost like a" (179) what?
(a) Memorial.
(b) Travesty.
(c) Celebration.
(d) Breath of fresh air.

13. When the unnamed narrator feels "too tired to write" (173) one day during his residency he watches The Passion of Joan of Arc, the favorite film of which character?
(a) Alex.
(b) Alena.
(c) Sharon.
(d) Natali.

14. During the unnamed narrator's residency, he must have what objects mailed to his temporary address in Texas?
(a) Literary contracts.
(b) His agent's notes.
(c) Medications.
(d) Tax forms.

15. To whose apartment does the unnamed narrator go after he leaves the literary dinner in Part Three?
(a) Sharon.
(b) Jon.
(c) Alena.
(d) Alex.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year did the tragedy discussed by the unnamed narrator at the literary event occur?

2. How many hours does it take for Michael to drive the unnamed narrator from the airport to his residency house?

3. The pills used to treat the unnamed narrator's heart condition "have the paradoxical effect of causing a minor tremor in" (163) what part of his body?

4. How many "substantial lines" does the intern do "in quick succession" (185) in an attempt to impress the unnamed narrator at the party?

5. One morning, the unnamed narrator wakes up to find that what noisy activity is going on nearby?

(see the answer keys)

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