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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. Where does Kramer's friend, Greg, work?

2. Which of the following characters is not meeting with Abe Weiss at the beginning of Chapter 17?

3. Where does Sherman meet Tommy Killian in Chapter 17?

4. What is Sherman's demeanor when he arrives at Pierce and Pierce in Chapter 11?

5. Who does Sherman try to call after Martin and Goldberg leave his condo?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Abe Weiss perpetually searching for and why?

2. What is the Mayor's principle fear during his town hall in the Prologue?

3. How does Judy explain Sherman's work to Campbell?

4. How does Al Vogel suggest that Fallow present the Henry Lamb story?

5. Describe Reverend Bacon.

6. How does Kramer's attempt to impress his liberal friends in Chapter 10 backfire?

7. Why is the Herbert 92X trial becoming overblown at the Bronx courthouse?

8. What transformation occurs in Fallow's outlook on life during this chapter?

9. How has Larry Kramer's career track been different from those of most of his classmates at Columbia?

10. Describe Maria Ruskin.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

As life becomes more complicated and precarious for Sherman McCoy, fewer and fewer supportive people in his life offer him assistance. This is a shame, because those who are not connected to the case are the most sensible and honest around him, his family. Write an essay about the three truth-tellers in his family. How does Sherman lose each of them? How do each of them serve in some way as his conscience?

Part 1) Judy McCoy

Part 2) Sherman's Father

Part 3) Campbell McCoy

Essay Topic 2

Using the Epilogue as a frame, write an essay about the moral vacuum of Bonfire of the Vanities. Wolfe has created a world where the only way to survive is dogged self-interest and exploitation of others. Choose three characters whose fates are discussed in the epilogue and use their character arcs to show how honesty and high-mindedness does not pay off in the end.

Essay Topic 3

The Mayor of New York is the only recurring character in the novel without a name. Write an essay about the mayor as a symbol for the political, legal, and business system of New York. What does the mayor fear? What does he consider his failures and successes? How does he cope with forces he does not understand and cannot face?

(see the answer keys)

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