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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. How many Mercedes in New York CIty have plates beginning with an R?

2. What does the Mayor consider his "wrong" choice?

3. For what purpose was Reverend Bacon given 350,000 dollars by the Episcopal Church?

4. Which stock increases value in Chapter 6, earning Sherman's Cleveland client a good return?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why does Sherman McCoy have to go to the toilet at his firm to read the newspaper?

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

4. Who is Roland Auburn?

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

6. Describe the speech Lord Buffing makes.

7. What realities does Tommy Killian elucidate for Sherman?

8. Describe the protest in Chapter 13.

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

10. Describe Sherman McCoy's history with Freddy Button.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the character of Maria Ruskin. What is her appeal to Sherman? Why does he constantly forgive or ignore her dalliances with other men? What does she represent in the world of Wolfe's New York? Focus on specific moments in the story, her exoticism as a non-New Yorker, and her ultimate success.

Essay Topic 2

Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities is famous for its honest and vicious portrayals of persons of all races. Under the heavy satire of figures like Reverend Bacon and Roland Auburn are some maudlin and disturbing observations about black urban poverty. Write an essay on this topic:

Part 1) Early in the novel, Sherman panics while at a payphone in the rain because he sees a young black man approaching him. What assumptions does Sherman make about New York? What does this say about the social divide in New York?

Part 2) When at last the truth of why Henry Lamb and Roland Auburn were together the night Henry was run down comes out, Weiss quickly buries it. Why was Henry hanging out with Roland? Why didn't he leave when things turned violent? What constant pressures were on this nonviolent young man?

Part 3) What happens to the Lamb family at the end of the novel? How are they the ultimate losers in this elaborate game of politics, media, and legal maneuvering?

Essay Topic 3

Lust for the flesh is the only inclination in Wolfe's novel that supersedes lust for money or power. Write an essay focusing on Sherman, Maria, and Kramer, analyzing how each makes foolish choices because of lust. How are both Sherman and Maria undone by unwise sexual decisions? How does Shelly Thomas become such an idol to Kramer?

(see the answer keys)

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