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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. Who wrote The Consolation of Philosophy?

2. What is the name of the Levy house?

3. Whose signature does Igantius copy?

4. What does Mancuso have on his head as he talks to his sergeant?

5. What will happen to Mancuso if he fails?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Gus's criticisims of his wife?

2. How must George adapt to Jones' presence at the bar?

3. What does Ignatius think about his new colleagues?

4. What is the central idea to Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy?

5. What does Myrna's letter say in Chapter 7?

6. What does Ignatius write about in Social Note?

7. How does the beginning of the novel immediately show Irene as an eccentric, but neurotic woman?

8. What does Ignatius write in The Journal of a Working Boy?

9. Describe Ignatius' appearance at the beginning of the book.

10. Describe the outside of Ignatius' and Irene's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

With the students, discuss the use of dialect in novels. What difference does dialect make? Do the students think there are times that dialect does not work?

Essay Topic 2

The novel is set in New Orleans.

1) What meaning does New Orleans bring to the novel? What would you automatically presume about a novel that was set in New Orleans?

2) How different do you think today's New Orleans is to the New Orleans in the novel? How do you think the novel's meaning would change if it were set in today's New Orleans?

3) How do you think the setting contributes to the novel's humor?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss whether you think this statement is true or false: "A Confederacy of Dunces is about nothing and, as such, has nothing of any importance to say about 1960's America." Use two examples from the novel to support your argument.

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