View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Peter Fallow pretend to be on the phone when a co-worker approaches him?

2. Why is Fallow in pain when he arrived at the office?

3. What does Sherman McCoy do before going to work in Chapter 3?

4. What aspect of the Henry Lamb story does Reverend Bacon want to receive more coverage?

5. What happens at the social event in Chapter 14 that particularly annoys Sherman?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Roland Auburn?

2. How does Tommy Killian explain the criminal justice system to Sherman in Chapter 17?

3. How does Sherman McCoy's self-image change during the course of Chapter 3?

4. Why do the McCoys rent a car to go to the Bavardages party?

5. In Chapter 13, what are Sherman's thoughts about telling Judy the truth?

6. What does Sherman discover in the papers in Chapter 14?

7. How does Fallow falsify the source of his information regarding the Mercedes search?

8. After hearing Sherman's story, what is Freddy's concern?

9. What does Sherman realize about Maria during their conversation in Chapter 11?

10. What concerns Sherman McCoy about taking Martin and Goldberg to his garage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

According to Aristotle's Poetics, a tragic hero is a person that strives intently towards a certain goal only to discover that he or she has accomplished its opposite. Write an essay about Sherman McCoy as a character who has twice experienced this tragic catharsis:

Part 1) At the beginning of the novel, what does Sherman McCoy think he deserves in life? How does his pursuit of this lead him to its opposite?

Part 2) Late in the novel, Sherman discusses his early days at Pierce and Pierce with Judy. When he was younger his goals were different than they are just before he meets Henry Lamb. To what extent is this conversation a delayed catharsis about his first tragic loss? How has Sherman already lost something when the novel begins?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay comparing the character arcs of Sherman McCoy and Larry Kramer. Are the two men mirrors of each other in the novel? How do they both view their lives and the people who care about them? Does Kramer's resentment of the privileged WASP existence also indicate a desire to have that life?

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,040 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample