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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 do the McCoys arrive at the society function at the beginning of Chapter 15?

2. What does Sherman refuse to do for Martin and Goldberg?

3. Where are Judy and Campbell when Sherman returns home in the evening?

4. In Chapter 9, what does Fallow find in his pocket instead of a notebook?

5. In what borough of New York does Larry Kramer work as an assistant DA?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What realities does Tommy Killian elucidate for Sherman?

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

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

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

7. Describe the protest in Chapter 13.

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

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

10. Describe the speech Lord Buffing makes.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Location is very important to the novel, because Tom Wolfe's is a segregated place, where entire borough's can go unexplored by large groups of people. Write an essay comparing the world of Manhattan with that of the Bronx. Cite descriptions by narrator and character and specific incidents that occur in the plot. What do these places mean to different groups of New Yorkers?

Essay Topic 2

Bonfire of the Vanities can be viewed as a modern morality tale in which a man without a soul - Sherman McCoy - is given one by a process of attrition. All the earthly pleasures he enjoys are stripped from him until he is rendered a man. Write an essay about Sherman McCoy's redemption:

Part 1) Analyze Sherman McCoy's processing the day he turns himself in. What does he lose and what does he experience? What is his reaction the the proceedings?

Part 2) How does Sherman McCoy's kicking Pollard Browning out of his condo reflect a shift in his personality? What has changed?

Part 3) Describe the Sherman McCoy described in the Epilogue. How is this Sherman different from the Sherman we meet at the beginning of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Abe Weiss is in many respects the driving force behind all the action of the novel. Write an essay about Abe Weiss and how the plot is a vehicle for his actions. What does he ultimately want? How does the Henry Lamb case become important to that objective? What measures does Abe Weiss take to achieve this objective through Kramer, Sherman, and Fallow?

(see the answer keys)

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