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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. What is the name of the bookshop owned by the narrator's friend?

2. Who drives the narrator to see Cody in Chapter 17?

3. What are the new generation of kids who wear ragged but strangely elegant clothing called?

4. In Chapter 20, Arthur Ma asks why did who keep a notebook?

5. What does the narrator refer to his socks as in the book?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Buddhist fundamentals relate to Jack's relationship with nature in Chapter 8? How do these change later in the novel?

2. What animal does Jack encounter in Chapter 4? How does he describe this and the landscape?

3. How does the protagonist view the cliffs and his surroundings in Chapter 4?

4. What does Jack tell himself and thus do in the beginning of Chapter 3? What does the driver tell him?

5. What exposition does the narrator relay of Cody's imprisonment in Chapter 13?

6. After leaving Cody's house, where does the group decide to go and who do they meet up with?

7. Who arrives in Chapter 5? How does Jack's perspective change after this visit?

8. What does Jack decide to do in Chapter 9? How does he go about leaving?

9. What spurs Jack to believe he is not wanted at the cabin in Chapter 9?

10. What is the purpose of Jack's and Arthur Ma's conversation in Chapter 19?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of "isolation" in Big Sur. How does this theme contrast that of "fame?" How do these juxtapositions create conflict in the hero?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss and describe the foreshadowing which Kerouac used in Big Sur. How overt is his use of foreshadowing? What are his intentions with this technique?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the character of Billie Dabney. How is her relationship to the narrator illustrated? How do her actions contribute to the actions of the protagonist?

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