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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. In what year of college was Alex enrolled when she met the unnamed narrator?
(a) Freshman.
(b) Junior.
(c) Sophomore.
(d) Senior.

2. Alex remarks at the museum that she is how old "and single" (7) in the narrative present?
(a) 36.
(b) 29.
(c) 41.
(d) 32.

3. How many days after the author's medical procedure does he receive a phone call about his abnormal X-ray telling him to see a neurologist?
(a) 9.
(b) 7.
(c) 1.
(d) 3.

4. What is the name of the unnamed narrator's friend who teaches third grade at a "dual-language school in Sunset Park" (10)?
(a) Stephen.
(b) Roberto.
(c) Aaron.
(d) Alex.

5. The unnamed narrator was recently diagnosed with a defect of what body part?
(a) The liver.
(b) The kidney.
(c) The heart.
(d) The spine.

Short Answer Questions

1. What body of water do Liza and the author reach just before the author says he has decided to opt for local anesthesia?

2. In what year of college was the unnamed narrator enrolled when he met Alex?

3. The unnamed narrator recalls that the poet Wallace Stevens had inspired how many of Bernard's favorite poets, including Bronk?

4. In what way are Sharon and Jon, two of the unnamed narrator's friends, acquainted?

5. How many months before the agent and the narrator's fancy dinner in Chelsea did the agent tell him she thought he could 'get a strong six-figure' advance based on a story" (3) he had written for the New Yorker?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what setting does the opening scene of "The Golden Vanity" take place?

2. What event have the unnamed narrator and his agent just been celebrating when the novel opens, and why is the occasion bittersweet for the unnamed narrator?

3. Describe Natali and Bernard's accomplishments in the literary world.

4. Why does the unnamed narrator refer to a particular scene in Part One as having "faded from the photograph" (24)?

5. Name and discuss one theme presented within 10:04's epigraph.

6. Discuss an instance when Lerner uses a simile to provide a vivid image of the setting in "The Golden Vanity."

7. How does Lerner demonstrate the closeness that exists between the unnamed narrator and his best friend Alex?

8. What action by the author comprises the tender moment he experiences with Liza in a taxi in Part Two: The Golden Vanity?

9. What event does the author recall at the end of the story "The Golden Vanity," causing him to conclude that the event had never happened?

10. Who is Alena?

(see the answer keys)

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