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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. Wallace believes passengers enjoy and resent Ellery's ______.

2. Where does Wallace's Celebrity Cruise start?

3. Why is Wallace able to spend so much time talking to Tibor?

4. Wallace compares the brochure's affect to a ________.

5. What deeper truth about the cruise line does Conroy's essay reveal to Wallace?

Short Essay Questions

1. Does Wallace enjoy ordering room service on the cruise ship? Why or why not?

2. Why does Wallace sit alone at breakfast on the cruise ship?

3. When the ship docks in Cozumel, Mexico, why doesn't Wallace get off the ship?

4. Why does Lynch rarely use minorities in his films?

5. Why doesn't Wallace participate in many of the activities on the ship?

6. What is Ellery supposed to represent?

7. Why does Wallace say he is on the fence about Lynch casing Richard Pryor?

8. Why does Wallace consider tennis to be the most beautiful and demanding sport?

9. What does Wallace feel elderly people and the cruise ship have in common? Does he feel these two are an appropriate pairing?

10. How does Wallace feel about his Celebrity Cruise assignment?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout his essays, Wallace often cites outside sources to either enforce his opinion or provide a contradiction for him to react to. Discuss Wallace's use of outside sources. How does Wallace analyzing others paint a clearer picture of Wallace himself?

Essay Topic 2

Wallace is very critical of pop-culture and its prevalence in American art. He fears that it may be all that we've become. Discuss the arguments presented by Wallace and the sources he cites. What is the objective of this discussion? Where does Wallace leave the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Wallace at times is in awe of the nature of the world. At the State Fair, he admires the strong sense of community; in discussing Lynch, he praises his artistic vision; on the cruise, he admires the efficiency and luxury. However, he often begins to criticize the weakness of these things. Discuss how Wallace's shifts his opinion, what inspires this, and the experience for the reader.

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