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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. When the unnamed narrator attends a party in Part Four, he finds that the guests in the kitchen are different from the other guests in what way?
(a) They are younger.
(b) They are older.
(c) They are poets.
(d) They are novelists.

2. The unnamed narrator tells the distinguished female author that his next book will involve a woman lying about having which malady?
(a) Tuberculosis.
(b) Cancer.
(c) Lupus.
(d) Multiple sclerosis.

3. To what location is the unnamed narrator referring when he has the distinguished female author in hysterical laughter over the "masturbatorium" (125)?
(a) The gay bar.
(b) The porn theater.
(c) The fertility clinic.
(d) The library.

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

5. What is the name of the old man who does so much cocaine at the party that it worries the unnamed narrator?
(a) Jimmy.
(b) Jack.
(c) Saul.
(d) Peter.

Short Answer Questions

1. Alena recently acquired a great deal of what type of art?

2. 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?

3. What is the only element of the physical world that gives the unnamed narrator a feeling of excitement?

4. The unnamed narrator must leave in the middle of Noor's story one day during their shift to check if which item is in stock?

5. When the unnamed narrator rises for his first full day in Marfa, he finds his face covered in what substance?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the unnamed narrator's usual routine change during his writers' residency?

2. How does Lerner use irony to portray the scene of the party depicted in Part Four?

3. How does the theme of fatherhood enter the narrative in Part Four?

4. For what reason does the unnamed narrator travel to Texas in Part Four?

5. How does the unnamed narrator react to holding the Jeff Koons balloon dog sculpture in Part Three and how do Alena and Peter react to his reaction?

6. Why does Alex caution the unnamed narrator not to write about medical issues and what evidence does she use for her argument?

7. How does the theme of identity arise within the story about her family Noor relates to the unnamed narrator in Part Three?

8. What is the unnamed narrator's specific reason for feeling the way he does about the totaled art?

9. Name three excuses the unnamed narrator uses when people ask to see him during his writers' residency.

10. Who is Michael and how does the unnamed narrator meet him?

(see the answer keys)

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