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

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

3. The narrator writes that within what time period, he lost complete control of the peace mechanisms of his mind?

4. How old does the narrator say he is in the beginning of the book?

5. Who is singing like Chet Baker in Chapter 19?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. In what ways does Jack communicate or interact with the animals at Big Sur in Chapter 8?

4. How do the protagonist's feelings of himself in Chapters 1 and 2 foreshadow that which occurs later in the novel?

5. What is Jack's initial interaction with the animals around the cabin like in Chapter 18?

6. What do the descriptions in Chapter 3 relate about the protagonist?

7. Where is Jack in the beginning of the novel? What were his initial plans and why did they change?

8. What is Jack's reaction to learning his cat has died?

9. How does the narrator feel about himself in the end of Chapter 1?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characters of David Wain and Arthur Ma. How do these characters relate to one another? What are their differences in relationship to the narrator?

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 Jack Duluoz in Big Sur. What are his principle characteristics? What are his objectives and obstacles in the plot?

(see the answer keys)

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